Militants carried out a series of apparently coordinated attacks against Iraqi security forces in and around Baghdad on Tuesday, killing six police and soldiers.

Militants carried out a series of apparently coordinated attacks against Iraqi security forces in and around Baghdad on Tuesday, killing six police and soldiers, security and medical officials said.

In Tarmiyah, north of the capital, militants attacked a police station with two car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov assault rifles, killing one policeman and wounding two, an interior ministry official and a medical source told Agence France Presse.

Gunmen also attacked a checkpoint in Zayouna in east Baghdad, killing two police and wounding three, the interior ministry official added.

In Al-Amriyah in west Baghdad, gunmen killed army Brigadier General Saleh Hassan Fezaa, while others attacked a checkpoint in Al-Amil in the south of the capital, killing two soldiers and wounding three.

Targets in recent months included a military base, the anti-terrorism directorate in Baghdad, a prison, and an entrance to Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone, where the Iraqi government is headquartered.

Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but deadly attacks are still carried out almost every day.

With the latest violence, at least 187 people have been killed and 685 wounded in attacks so far this month, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources.