Violence, including fighting between security forces and militants, killed 25 people in Iraq on Tuesday.

Violence, including fighting between security forces and militants, killed 25 people in Iraq on Tuesday.

Insurgents battled police and troops west and north of Baghdad.

In Anbar province west of the capital, militants attacked two police stations and a local official's house in the towns of Rawa and Aana near the main highway from Baghdad to the Syrian border, killing seven police and the official's brother, medical and security sources said.

Deputy Interior Minister Adnan al-Assadi told journalists a large group of militants had attacked Aana, seeking to take control of security force positions.

Security forces killed six of the militants, Assadi said, adding that SWAT units had been deployed to the area.

North of Baghdad, two soldiers and four militants died in clashes in the Hamreen area, officers said.

A helicopter pilot was wounded by gunfire in the operation, during which two militants were arrested and weapons seized, army Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir al-Zaidi told AFP.

Two officers said a helicopter had been shot down, but Zaidi insisted that it was able to return to base.

Three people were killed in the northern province of Nineveh and two in Babil province, south of Baghdad.

In the capital, a car bomb killed at least two people and wounded seven more.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that attacks in Iraq aimed to "reignite sectarian strife" and divide the country.

On Tuesday, the cabinet agreed to allocate an aircraft to transport people wounded in recent attacks out of the country for treatment, Maliki's website said.

More than 630 people have been killed this month and over 4,450 since the beginning of the year, marking the highest level of violence in Iraq since 2008.