11 killed, one injured in new wave of attacks in Iraq

On Monday, police and an interior ministry official said that unidentified gunmen dressed in police uniforms attacked several houses in the predominantly Sunni town of Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, and abducted six people from their homes.

Authorities said the gunmen had claimed to be carrying out a security operation.

Security sources said that the bodies of the abductees were later found just outside the neighborhood. Hospital officials also confirmed receiving the bodies later in the day.

On the same day, gunmen killed two prison guards and two civilians in separate attacks in northern Nineveh province.

Another person was killed in a roadside bomb attack south of Baghdad, security and medical sources said.

In addition, one person was wounded in a bombing in the southern city of Basra.

The incidents are the latest in a string of attacks across Iraq that have left more than 4,400 people dead since the beginning of 2013.

On Sunday, car bombs, roadside bombs and shootings in Iraq killed at least 50 people and injured dozens more, according to Iraqi security and hospital sources.

According to the United Nations, a total of 1,057 Iraqis, including 928 civilians, were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in terrorist attacks throughout the country in July -- the deadliest month since 2008.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry has said that militants have launched an open war in Iraq and they want to push the Middle Eastern country into chaos.

"The country is currently facing an open war from bloodthirsty sectarian forces that aim to plunge the country into chaos," the Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on July 30.

HK