12 Killed in Attacks across Iraq

(FNA)- At least 12 people, including military forces, have been killed in separate attacks across Iraq, security officials said.

Authorities said Sunday that armed men attacked a security checkpoint near the Northern city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) Northwest of Baghdad, and killed seven soldiers, press tv reported.

In the city of Ramadi, three people were killed and five others wounded on the same day when explosives on a car were detonated on the Hauz Bridge. The blast caused major damage to the key crossing, which connects the North and South of the capital city of Anbar Province.

In another attack, a roadside bomb killed two police officers in the city of Tikrit, North of Baghdad.

According to the AFP, nearly 500 people have been killed in acts of violence in Iraq so far this month.

Iraq has witnessed an upsurge in violence over the past year, with Al-Qaeda-linked militants regaining momentum in the country.

The so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is one of the major militant groups in Iraq, which has incited deadly violence in the Western province of Anbar.

Anbar plunged into violence in December 2013, when security forces cleared a camp that the government said was being used by militants for launching terrorist attacks.

According to figures released by the United Nations, at least 8,000 people lost their lives in the country last year - the highest death toll since a peak of violence in the country in 2007.