Updated

A roadside bomb exploded Saturday near the car of the governor of eastern Diyala province (search) wounding four of his guards, officials said.

Governor Abdullah Rashid al-Jbouri (search) was unharmed in by the blast in the town of Khan Bani Saad, halfway between Baqouba and Baghdad, said Dr. Abdullah Mohammed of the Baqouba General Hospital. His four guards were receiving treatment at the hospital.

The four men were in the car behind that of al-Jbouri, Mohammed said adding that the governor's car was not damaged.

It wasn't the first such incident in the Diyala province that stretches from the eastern outskirts of Baghdad all the way to the Iranian border.

On Oct. 29, Aqil Hamid al-Adili, an assistant to the governor, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Baqouba. In November, three Diyala provincial officials were shot dead while on their way to a funeral of a fourth colleague.

Government officials are frequent targets of terrorists, who often accuse them of collaborating with the U.S occupation.