This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22364394

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Deadly bombings rock central Iraq Militants target Iraqi Sunni militia near Fallujah
(35 minutes later)
At least 12 people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in central Iraq, officials say. At least 14 members of an anti-al-Qaeda Sunni militia have been killed in two attacks by militants near the western Iraqi city of Fallujah, officials say.
A car bomb in Husseiniya, an eastern suburb of the capital Baghdad, left at least four people dead, police said. The Awakening Council fighters were reportedly attacked by a suicide bomber and with mortar fire as they gathered to collect their salaries.
Another explosion at a police station in Fallujah, to the west, killed four people, including three members of a local Sunni Awakening Council. Three soldiers were also killed when a roadside bomb hit their convoy in a separate attack not far from Fallujah.
And in Baiji, north of Baghdad, a roadside bomb blast is reported to have killed at least four policemen. The attacks came amid of spate of bombings across Iraq on Wednesday.
Dozens more people were hurt in the attacks, which come amid a wave of violence that has left more than 200 people dead in the past two weeks. Elsewhere, a car bomb near the city of Ramadi killed two policemen while another car bomb in Baghdad's mainly Shia eastern suburb of Husseiniya claimed at least three more lives.
The bomb in Fallujah is believed to have been detonated as members of an Awakening Council gathered to receive their salaries. There are also reports of a roadside bomb in Baiji, north of Baghdad, killing four policemen.
Awakening Councils, which were set up by Sunnis to combat insurgents linked to al-Qaeda, have been seen as a key factor in reducing violence across the country since 2006. Scores more people were injured in the attacks, which come amid a wave of violence that has left more than 200 dead in the past two weeks.
The violence of the last two weeks was sparked by an army raid on a Sunni anti-government protest camp near the northern town of Hawija on Tuesday that left 50 people dead. 'Return of sectarian conflict'
Awakening Councils, drawn from among the country's Sunnis, have been seen as a key factor in reducing violence across the country since 2006.
The local militia were set up to combat Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda.
Tensions are high between Iraq's Sunni and Shia, amid claims by the majority Sunni communities that they are being marginalised by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Shia-led government.
Last week, Mr Maliki said sectarian conflict had returned to Iraq after erupting "in another place in this region" - an apparent reference to Syria.
At about the same time, Awakening Council chief Sheikh Wissam al-Hardan warned that if those responsible for killing soldiers in recent clashes were not handed over, it would "take the requested procedures".
Sunni Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda have attempted to destabilise the government by stepping up attacks, mainly on Shia but also Sunni targets this year.
In recent weeks, more than 11 election candidates have been shot dead.
Although the violence is less deadly than that seen during the heights of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, it is the most widespread since the US military withdrawal in 2011.Although the violence is less deadly than that seen during the heights of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, it is the most widespread since the US military withdrawal in 2011.