25 killed, 55 injured in Iraq violence

Baghdad, March 20 (IANS) At least 25 people were killed and 55 wounded in separate attacks across Iraq Wednesday, police said.

In Anbar province, sporadic shelling and fierce clashes erupted after midnight and continued during the day between gunmen and Iraqi soldiers in Fallujah city, some 50 km from Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding 23, Xinhua quoted a police source as saying.

Meanwhile, four policemen, including an officer, were killed and some 20 wounded in a car bomb explosion in Ishaqi area, some 90 km from Baghdad, a police source said.

In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen shot dead two civilians from al-Shabak minority at a parking lot in the city of Mosul, some 400 km from Baghdad, a source said.

Near Baghdad, two civilians were killed when armed men opened fire randomly on a marketplace in Taji area, some 20 km from Baghdad, a police source said.

Separately, two soldiers were killed and three wounded when gunmen attacked their checkpoint in Abu Ghraib area, some 25 km from Baghdad, the source said.

Abu Ghraib was also the scene of another attack when two roadside bombs went off in a quick succession, leaving a civilian killed and five wounded, the source added.

In addition, a roadside bomb exploded near a popular restaurant in Palestine Street in the eastern part of Baghdad, wounding four people, a police source said.

In Diyala province, a police commando officer and two of his guards were killed by gunmen using silenced weapons near Wajihiyah town near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 from Baghdad, a police source said.

A total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and police personnel, were killed in 2013.