At least 23 killed in separate attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, July 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 people were killed and 13 others wounded in the latest violent attacks across Iraq, police said on Monday.

Four civilians were killed and six others injured when a car bomb struck the home of a policeman in the residential complex of Mishraq south of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua anonymously.

Two civilians were killed and four others wounded including two members of the Iraqi army, when a car bomb targeted an army patrol in eastern Mosul, the source said.

Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen assassinated Qahtan Sammy, spokesman for Nineveh province, as he drove his car in northern Mosul, the source added.

Also on Monday, four people were killed in two separate attacks near Baquba, capital of Diyala province, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, local National Iraqi News Agency (NINA) reported.

Unidentified gunmen killed two brothers inside a grove near Abo Sayda county northeast of Baquba. While in another attack, unidentified gunmen opened fire and killed two people near Kobbah village belonging to Abo Sayda, a security source said.

The police said earlier that 12 people were killed and three others wounded in two attacks near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Violent attacks are still common in Iraq despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said last week that a total of 761 Iraqis were killed and another 1,771 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in June.

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