Baghdad: A total of 52 people were killed and 32 others wounded Thursday in violent attacks across Iraq, including 40 militants killed in a single battle with Iraqi forces, police said.
The deadliest incident occurred near Iraqi capital Baghdad when security forces fiercely clashed with gunmen who tried to storm a military base in Dwiyliba area outside the town of Yousifiyah, some 25 km south of Baghdad, Xinhua reported citing an interior ministry statement.
"Iraqi security forces confronted and foiled an attempt by Daash gang members to break into a military base," the statement said, referring to the Arabic first letters for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant group.
The battle resulted in the killing of 40 militants and one army officer, as well as the seizing of two heavy machine-guns, 15 rifles and five grenade launchers, according to the statement.
In Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, three people were killed and 14 others wounded in a car bomb explosion near a popular restaurant in Tuz-Khurmato, some 90 km east of the provincial capital Tikrit, a provincial police source said.
