At least 30 people, including Iraqi soldiers have been killed and dozens more injured in separate terrorist attacks across Iraq.
According to army and police officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Thursday, gunmen in military outfits opened fire on a small military base outside the Iraqi city of Mosul, killing 12 soldiers and wounding about a dozen others.
In other parts of Iraq, bomb attacks and shootings by militants suspected to belong to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) left 18 people dead.
Meanwhile, assailants stirred panic in the province of Salahuddin after setting ablaze leaking oil from a rusting pipeline. Ambulances evacuated residents.
Violence has been on the rise in Iraq as the country prepares for parliamentary polls set for April 30.
On Wednesday, two bombers blew up vehicles laden with explosive devices outside a government compound in the city of Ramadi and killed three soldiers, a policeman, and a civilian.
Analysts say terrorist groups such as ISIL are coming to Iraq from neighboring Syria and Saudi Arabia to undermine security in the country.
The government in Iraq has blamed Riyadh for the chaos, saying the Saudi regime is funding and arming militants fighting against Iraqi forces in the country’s western areas.
According to figures released by the United Nations, at least 8,000 people lost their lives in the country last year -- the highest death toll since a peak of violence in Iraq in 2007.
