Baghdad: At least 21 people were killed and 26 others wounded in violent attacks in Iraq on Sunday, police said.
A suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car into a base of a government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group in the city of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, killing eight and wounding 18, a police source told Xinhua.
Five members of the Sahwa group were among the dead and 10 members of the militia among the wounded, the source said.
The Sahwa militia, also known as the Awakening Council or the Sons of Iraq, consists of armed groups, including some powerful anti-US Sunni insurgent groups, who turned their rifles against the Al Qaeda network after the latter exercised indiscriminate killings against both Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities.
Iraq is witnessing its worst violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, which is the highest annual death toll for years. (IANS)