Attacks kill 12 people in Iraq; bridge destroyed

Baghdad: An attack at a security checkpoint and a suicide car bomb in Iraq killed 12 people and destroyed a bridge on Sunday, said officials.
Police officials said the deadlier attack took place when attackers sprayed with bullets a group of troops manning a checkpoint early Sunday, near the city of Mosul, 360 kilometres northwest of Baghdad.
Police said seven soldiers were killed in the attack.
Hours later, a suicide bomber set off his explosive-laden car on the main al-Houz bridge near Ramadi city, killing five people and wounding seven others.  Parts of the bridge fell into the Euphrates river.
Violence has escalated in Iraq over the past year, with 2013 seeing the country’s highest death toll since the worst of the country’s sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007. (AP)