A bomb exploded near the education minister’s convoy in north Iraq Wednesday and other attacks killed 13 people as the country struggles with daily violence ahead of elections next week.

A bomb exploded near the education minister's convoy in north Iraq Wednesday and other attacks killed 13 people as the country struggles with daily violence ahead of elections next week.

In the northern province of Kirkuk, a bomb exploded near Education Minister Mohammed Tamim's convoy without causing any casualties, Staff Major General Mohammed al-Dulaimi said.

In the Dhuluiyah area north of Baghdad, two Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda fighters were shot dead, and a policeman was killed in Tikrit, farther north.

In Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on Diyala provincial councillor Ahmed al-Harbi's two-vehicle convoy, killing him and two guards, police and a doctor said.

A car bomb exploded in a village in northern Iraq mainly populated by members of the Shabak minority on Wednesday, killing seven people, police and a morgue employee said.

The blast in Baybukh, a village north of the city of Mosul, also wounded at least 13 people.