Clashes near an Iraqi city held by terrorist groups and bombings targeting soldiers killed at least eight people Tuesday, officials said, the latest casualties of a protracted surge of nationwide violence.

Clashes near an Iraqi city held by terrorist groups and bombings targeting soldiers killed at least eight people Tuesday, officials said, the latest casualties of a protracted surge of nationwide violence.

In Al-Amriyah, south of the city of Fallujah, militants attacked a security forces checkpoint early on Tuesday, sparking clashes.

The violence killed three children and a woman and wounded 15 people, Doctor Ahmed Shami said.

The toll for security forces and militants was not immediately clear.

In Abu Ghraib, also west of the capital, a roadside bomb exploded near an army patrol, killing at least one soldier and wounding three, a police colonel and a medical official said.

And another blast in Jurf al-Sakhr, south of Baghdad, killed three soldiers and wounded six, a police captain and a doctor said.

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