Iraqi policemen stand guard on a main road in Baghdad as Shiite Muslim pilgrims walk on May 20, 2013 towards the Imam al-Kadim shrine for a commemoration ceremony to be held this week amid a sharp increase in violence.
Kirkuk, Iraq:
Militants killed eight Iraqi soldiers travelling on a bus in a restive area of north Iraq on Tuesday, a town official said a day after officials announced parliamentary election results.
The soldiers were leaving the town of Suleiman Bek to go on leave, but were stopped by militants who killed them, official Talib Mohammed al-Bayati said.
Four other soldiers were wounded in the shooting on the highway out of the town, he said.
No one immediately claimed the attack, but Sunni militants, including those linked to the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have in the past targeted the security forces.
Iraq is experiencing a protracted surge in unrest with violence at its worst since 2008. More than 3,500 people have been killed already this year, according to an AFP tally.
The soldiers were leaving the town of Suleiman Bek to go on leave, but were stopped by militants who killed them, official Talib Mohammed al-Bayati said.
Four other soldiers were wounded in the shooting on the highway out of the town, he said.
No one immediately claimed the attack, but Sunni militants, including those linked to the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, have in the past targeted the security forces.
Iraq is experiencing a protracted surge in unrest with violence at its worst since 2008. More than 3,500 people have been killed already this year, according to an AFP tally.
