15 killed in attacks across Iraq

Baghdad, May 18 (IANS) At least 15 people were killed and 29 others wounded in separate attacks and clashes across Iraq Saturday, authorities said.

Nine people were killed and 13 others injured by artillery and rocket shelling in Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, Xinhua quoted a source at Fallujah General Hospital as saying on condition of anonymity.

A roadside bomb struck a popular market in Tarmiya, some 30 km north of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding 13 others, a police official said.

A Iraqi soldier was killed and two others wounded when a roadside bomb hit an Iraqi army patrol in the area of Ouja near Tikrit, 170 km north of Baghdad, the official added.

A military officer was shot dead by unidentified gunmen near the town of Balad, 80 km south of Tikrit.

In Mosul, unidentified gunmen shot dead a policeman, police said, adding that a gunman was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb in Fallah neighbourhood exploded.

Iraq is witnessing some of 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 civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, the highest annual death toll in years.