Attacks across Iraq leave at least 8 killed, 38 wounded, officials say

BAGHDAD – At least eight people were killed and nearly 40 were wounded in separate attacks across Iraq on Wednesday, officials said.

The first attack took place early in the morning in the western city of Fallujah when gunmen in a speeding car sprayed a police checkpoint with bullets, killing three policemen, a police officer said. The former insurgent stronghold is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

That shooting was followed by attacks in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where a parked a car bomb exploded near the offices of a Kurdish party, wounding 20 people, another police officer said. A suicide car bomber hit a checkpoint manned by Kurdish security forces in the city, killing one Kurdish security member and wounding six, the officer added. Kirkuk is 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad.

In the Iraqi capital, a bomb attached to a minibus killed three commuters and wounded eight, police said. And in the northern city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, a suicide bomber with an explosive-laden belt blew himself up in a carpenter's workshop, killing one person and wounding four people, police said.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Violence has ebbed in Iraq, but insurgent attacks are still frequent.