41 killed, 34 wounded in violent attacks in Iraq

At least 41 people including a senior police officer were killed and 34 others wounded Friday in violent attacks and clashes in Iraq, police said. Fifteen people were killed and five others injured when a suicide truck bomber attacked a police brigade headquarters in the village of Anjana near Adheam, some 120 km northeast of the capital of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Brigadier General Raghib Radhi al-Omairi of the Iraqi Federal Police and four of his bodyguards were among the dead in the suicide attack, the source said. Two policemen and eight al-Qaida-linked militants were killed and two policemen were injured in clashes between the two sides in Buhriz area near the city of Baquba, 60 km northeast of Baghdad. Six people were killed and 18 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a funeral for a leader of the pro- government Awakening militias in central Ramadi, 100 km west of Baghdad, a security source said. Three government employees working for the North Oil Company were killed and six others wounded by shooting on the bus near the town of Tuz Khurmatu, 170 km north of Baghdad. In Samarra, 120 km north of Baghdad, two members of the federal police forces were killed and three others wounded when a suicide car bomb went off at a police checkpoint, the police source said. After the explosion, unidentified gunmen attacked the checkpoint and kidnapped five policemen. Two Hummer vehicles and some weapons and ammunition were also taken by them, the source said. Three gunmen and two policemen were killed when clashes broke out in six villages in the area of Qaratapa, 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the police source said. Iraq is witnessing its worst violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, a total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and police personnel, were killed in 2013, the highest annual death toll in years.