23 people killed in Iraq violence

At least 23 people were killed and 50 others were injured in separate incidents of violence across Iraq Thursday, police said.

A roadside explosions at a market place in Sabie al-Bour suburb near Baghdad killed 11 people and injured 35, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

Earlier, seven people were killed and 15 wounded when a roadside bomb ripped through a popular market in Doura district, Baghdad, damaging several shops and stalls.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, an employee working in the provincial Diyala satellite channel was gunned down by armed men.

Another government employee was shot by unidentified gunmen in the provincial capital city of Baquba, 65 km of Baghdad, said police source.

Also, a security personnel was killed when a roadside bomb detonated near his house in Baquba.

According to police source, two fighters of a government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group were shot dead by gunmen in Shirqat area, 280 km of Baghdad.

The Sahwa militia, also known as the Awakening Council or the Sons of Iraq, consists of armed groups who turned their rifles against the Al Qaida network after the latter exercised indiscriminate killings against both Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim communities.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years.

Earlier, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said that almost 5,000 civilians were killed and 12,000 others were injured in Iraq from January to August this year.