Iraq officials: Attacks kill 8, including 4 troops

Officials say a suicide bomber has killed four Iraqi troops west of Baghdad while attacks elsewhere in the country killed four people.
Police officials say the bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a military post near the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, killing the four soldiers and wounding 21.
In an attack north of Baghdad, gunmen shot dead a grocery store owner and his relative. A bomb exploded near a line of shops in the Latifiyah area south of the Iraqi capital, killing two people.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Violence has escalated in Iraq over the past year, particularly since late last month after authorities dismantled a Sunni anti-government protest camp and arrested a Sunni lawmaker.