12 killed in violent attacks in Iraq

Twelve people were killed and 26 wounded in separate attacks, including a suicide bombing, in Iraq on Wednesday, police said. In Iraq's northern province of Kirkuk, a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest among a crowd of people at a recruitment center outside the city of al- Riyadh, some 45 km southwest of the provincial capital city of Kirkuk, leaving five people killed and 16 others wounded, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. In Anbar province, the army attacked anti-government gunmen in the southern the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, killing three militants and destroying their vehicle, a provincial police source anonymously told Xinhua. In a separate incident, two soldiers were killed and seven others wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in Abu Ghraib area, some 25 km west of Baghdad, a local police source said. Another roadside bomb went off near a vehicle carrying members of government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group, in Abu Ghraib area, killing two group members and wounding three others, the source added. 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 civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, the highest annual death toll in years.