Attacks on Iraq checkpoints kill eight

Three attacks on separate checkpoints north of Baghdad killed eight people today, including four policemen and three militiamen, Iraqi officials said.

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TIKRIT, IRAQ // Three attacks on separate checkpoints north of Baghdad killed eight people today, including four policemen and three militiamen, Iraqi officials said.

Unknown gunmen killed four policemen in an attack on a checkpoint on a road near Tikrit, 160 kilometres north of Baghdad, a Tikrit police officer and a doctor from the town's hospital said.

Three Sahwa militiamen were killed by a bomb placed in a caravan at a checkpoint near Balad, 70 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital, a police officer and a medic from Balad said.

And gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in Dujail, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, killing a soldier and kidnapping four others, an Iraqi army officer said.

The latest violence comes a day after official figures put the number of people killed in attacks in July at 325, the highest monthly death toll since August 2010.

While violence has decreased compared to its peak in 2006-2007, attacks remain common across Iraq.