38 people including U.S. soldier killed in fresh wave of attacks in Iraq

At least 38 people including 20 Iraqi soldiers and a U.S. soldier were killed in a fresh wave of bombings and shootings around Iraq on Tuesday, causing a further setback for Iraqi government's efforts to achieve security and peace.

In the bloodiest attack, a roadside bomb ripped apart an Iraqi army convoy near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji, leaving 20 Iraqi soldiers dead and 13 others wounded.

"An Iraqi army convoy was passing near the Raiyashi gas station just outside the oil-refinery town of Baiji early in the morning when gunmen blew up a roadside bomb near the convoy before they opened fire," a source with the Joint Coordination Center of the Salahudin province, where Baiji is located, told Xinhua.

This roadside bombing followed a suicide bombing attack in Karradah district in Baghdad.

A suicide car bomber blew himself up near an Iraqi security patrol, killing at least 10 Iraqi soldiers and policemen and wounding 12 others, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry source.

Earlier, a car bomb exploded in Maqdadiyah, a volatile town about 90 km northeast of Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 10 others.

Also on Tuesday, a U.S. convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in south of Baghdad, leaving one American soldier dead and another wounded.

The latest death brought the death toll of U.S. service members who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003 to at least 2,578, according to media tally.

In eastern Baghdad, two car bombings targeting a U.S.-Iraqi joint patrol and an Iraqi army checkpoint respectively wounded a total of 9 people, including three Iraqi police commandos and two Iraqi soldiers.

In recent month, Iraq has witnessed thousands of casualties due to mounting sectarian violence and rampant insurgent attacks.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was sworn in two months ago, has been proven failed to some extent in curbing the violence despite his series of security measures and a national reconciliation.

Source: Xinhua