Multiple attacks across Iraq kill scores

A series of attacks in Iraq on Friday, including several suicide bombings, left at least 45 people dead, many of whom were members of security forces. Scores more were wounded, Iraqi officials said.

In the first of the attacks, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden truck into a police brigade headquarters in the village of Injan, about 75 miles north of Baghdad, police officials said.

The explosion set off a firefight between other attackers and policemen. After it was over 12 people were dead, the officials said. Earlier, officials had said nine police officers were dead.

Hours later, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt among mourners attending a funeral for Nasir al-Alawani, a leader in the anti-Al-Qaeda Sunni militia known also as Sahwa, who was killed a day earlier.

Some 10 mourners were killed and 27 were wounded in the attack in the city of Ramadi, 70 miles west of the Iraqi capital.

The Sahwa militia became prominent when its members joined U.S. troops in the fight against Al-Qaeda at the height of Iraq's bloodletting. Since then, it has been a target for Sunni insurgents who consider them traitors.

Since late December, Iraq's western cities have seen fierce clashes pitting government security forces and their tribal Sunni militia allies against Al-Qaeda-linked militants and other insurgent groups. The insurgents hold the city of Fallujah and parts of Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi.

In the Sarha region of Salaheddin, clashes early on Friday led to a series of explosions, including one near an army base, that killed 12 people and injured 13.

In other violence, police said gunmen sprayed an army checkpoint near the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers. They also abducted nine soldiers before leaving the area, police said.

Car bombings also killed nine and injured 25 in Dibis, a town located near Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad.

Also, police said a roadside bomb hit a military convoy in the town of Beiji, north of Baghdad, killing five people and injuring seven.

Medical officials confirmed the casualties from Friday's attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, according to Associated Press news agency. 

Medical officials confirmed the casualties from Friday's attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, but they bear the hallmarks of an Al-Qaeda breakaway group that frequently attacks members of security forces in an attempt to undermine the Shia-led government's efforts to maintain security across the country.

Violence has spiked in Iraq since last April, a surge unseen since 2008. The relentless attacks have become the government's most serious challenge.

Last year, Iraq saw the highest death toll since the worst of the country's sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007, according to United Nations figures. The U.N. said violence killed 8,868 last year in Iraq.

Al Jazeera and the Associated Press