Attacks and shelling in Baghdad and northern and western Iraq killed nine people on Monday, officials said, as electoral authorities counted ballot papers from last week’s general election.

Attacks and shelling in Baghdad and northern and western Iraq killed nine people on Monday, officials said, as electoral authorities counted ballot papers from last week's general election.

In Fallujah, just a short drive west of Baghdad, shelling in various parts of the city killed four people and wounded another, according to Dr Ahmed Shami, chief medic at the main hospital.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the shelling, which began after midnight, but residents say the military indiscriminately targets the city with regular shelling. Defense officials say they are targeting militants.

Elsewhere on Monday, two men were shot dead in Baghdad, and a car bomb near a restaurant north of the capital in the ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu killed at least three soldiers.

The bloodshed comes just days after a parliamentary election, with incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki seeking a third term despite a dramatic deterioration in security and widespread political opposition.

More than 3,000 people have been killed already this year, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical reports.