Iraq violence kills 11

An Iraqi boy inspects a burnt out vehicle the day after a bomb attack in the Sadr City district of Baghdad on September 22, 2103 (AFP/File)

Baghdad (AFP) – Violence that included attacks on security forces and their families killed 11 people in Iraq on Saturday, officials said.

In Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, militants blew up four houses belonging to police and soldiers while people slept inside. Four people were killed, among them a soldier, and 15 wounded.

Southeast of the capital, a roadside bomb in a market killed one person and wounded eight, while a magnetic "sticky bomb" on a car killed an electricity ministry employee in Baghdad itself.

A roadside bomb also killed a civilian in Baiji, north of Baghdad, while militants attacked a checkpoint near the town, leaving two gunmen and a soldier dead.

Afterwards, authorities announced a curfew in the area.

Gunmen also attacked a local council member's convoy near Baquba, north of Baghdad, killing one of his guards and wounding two.

Iraq is witnessing its worst violence since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal sectarian conflict that killed tens of thousands of people.

There are persistent fears, bolstered by a spate of sectarian attacks this year, that the country is slipping back towards all-out Sunni-Shiite conflict.

Militants, including those linked to Al-Qaeda, frequently carry out attacks against Iraqi security forces and other government employees.

The latest violence brings the death toll to more than 740 people in September and more than 4,550 this year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.