Iraq hit by various deadly attacks

Iraq has suffered a series of attacks at various locations by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, killing mainly security forces.

Thursday’s deadliest attack came in the morning in Anbar province where ISIL fighters in armoured vehicles launched the assault on Iraqi army forces who were guarding the Nathim al-Taqsim dam, northeast of Fallujah, security sources told Al Jazeera.

The Iraqi army pursued the attackers, falling into an ambush when the fighters led them into an area laid with landmines near the town of Shiha, about 5km from the dam.

As the army was evacuating casualties, an ISIL suicide car bomb exploded, followed by another attack by gunmen. 

At least 14 Iraqi soldiers were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in the sequence of attacks.

An unspecified number of ISIL fighter were also killed, security sources told Al Jazeera.

In a separate incident on Thursday, rockets believed to be launched by ISIL hit a court building, a football stadium and an irrigation department in Heet city of western Anbar province.

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At least nine people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in the attack, hospital sources told Al Jazeera.

Also on Thursday, at least eight people were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad and in the nearby town of Mahmudiyah, Iraqi officials told the AP news agency.

A police officer said a car bomb ripped through a commercial area in Baghdad’s neighbourhood of Shaab, killing six civilians, including two women, and wounding 16.

Another officer said a bomb struck an outdoor market in Mahmudiyah, about 30km south of Baghdad, killing two people. One of them was an eight-year-old child. That attack also wounded six people.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to reporters.

No responsibility has been claimed for the attacks, which bore the hallmarks of ISIL.