Eight people were killed in three terrorist attacks in Iraq on Tuesday, continuing a wave of violence that has sparked fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict.
Two attacks targeted police stations, one in the town of Rawa and the other in the town of Aana, both located on the highway to Syria. Seven police officers were killed.
A third attack northwest of Baghdad killed the brother of a local official.
The latest attacks follow bombings and other attacks on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008.
Many have expressed concern that violence could return to the levels seen in 2006 and 2007, when open conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups left tens of thousands of people dead.
On Friday, a double bombing at a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad killed 18 people. The next day, a Shiite Muslim funeral in Baghdad was targeted by bombers; 73 people were killed.
On Sunday and Monday, there were bombings at Sunni funerals in the capital that killed 12 and 15 people respectively. Monday’s bombing targeted mourners for one of four people killed Saturday, when terrorists opened fire on a store selling liquor in a Sunni neighborhood.
In total, over 610 people have been killed in terrorist attacks in Iraq in September, and over 4,400 have died since the beginning of 2013, according to the AFP news agency, which based the numbers on data from Iraqi security and medical sources.