At least 28 killed in separate attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD - At least 28 people were killed and 71 others wounded on Friday in separate attacks across Iraq, police and local media said.

The deadliest attack was in the Qurait area in northern Baghdad, where 14 people were killed and 31 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite mosque during the evening pray, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Earlier in the day, at least 12 people were killed and 21 others wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, local National Iraqi News Agency reported.

The roadside bomb exploded near the eastern entrance to a protest camp in the Al-Haq Square.

Elsewhere, one soldier was killed and another soldier and one policeman were wounded in an armed attack against a joint military and police checkpoint in Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad.

A car bomb went off in Kut, some 180 km south of Baghdad, killing one and wounding 17 others.

Violent attacks are still common in Iraq despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007,  when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on Monday a total of 761 Iraqis were killed and another 1,771 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in June.