31 killed in Iraq violence

At least 31 people were killed and 20 others wounded in the latest violent attacks and conflicts in Iraq, police source said Monday.

Police patrols Monday found 14 unidentified bodies - 11 men and three women - in different parts of Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua, noting that most of the bodies had signs of torture and gunshot wounds.

It was not immediately clear when and why they were killed and no group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings.

Two civilians were killed and seven others wounded when two mortar shells fell on houses in Shala area of northwestern Baghdad, the police source added.

Four members of the Iraqi army, including two officers, were killed and seven soldiers were wounded when a number of mortar shells fell at an army checkpoint in Taji area, some 20 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

In Adhem area in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, four security personnel were killed and six others wounded when a booby-trapped bomb exploded in a house, a local police source said.

Seven militants of the Islamic State, an Al Qaida breakaway group that was formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), were killed in clashes with the Iraqi army in Tamem neighbourhood in northern Ramadi, some 100 km west of Baghdad, according to a local security source.

Iraq has been witnessing some of the worst violence in years. Terrorism and violence have killed 5,576 civilians in Iraq in the first half of this year, while 11,666 more were wounded, according to a recent UN report.