8 people killed, several injured in Iraq violence

At least eight people have been killed and several others wounded in a fresh wave of violence, including bombings and gun attacks, across Iraq.

On Monday, four people were killed in shooting incidents in and around the city of Baquba, situated some 60 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad.

On the same day, violence in the central city of Hilla, Baghdad, and the towns of Madain and Abu Ghraib located near the capital killed four people.

Reports also say that thirteen people were injured after a series of coordinated bombings hit the northern city of Mosul.

Moreover, a city council chief was wounded in a bombing in Tikrit.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but systematic bombings are a favorite tactic of al-Qaeda-linked groups, who seek to destabilize the country.

The attacks are the latest in a surge of violence, killing more than 5,600 people since the beginning of this year.

On Sunday, separate attacks across Iraq killed 26 people and injured over 70 others.

On Saturday, four policemen were killed and a dozen people injured in a series of attacks in Baghdad and the city of Mosul.

A bomb attack killed some 32 people and injured at least 80 others in Baquba on Thursday, when people were marking the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH).

Two other bombings near a mourning tent in the town of Hafriyah, south of Baghdad, killed nine people and injured dozens on the same day.

On October 23, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that Iraq is facing a “war of genocide.”

“It has become clear… that Iraq is subjected to a war of genocide targeting all of its components,” Maliki said.

He blamed the al-Qaeda militant group for killing thousands of people in Iraq, saying that the group is “destroying the houses of citizens and killing them, and blowing up government departments.”

Data released by Iraq’s ministries of health, interior and defense on November 1 showed that violence in the Arab country killed 964 people and injured 1,600 others in October alone.