At least seven people were killed in Iraq on Sunday after a wave of attacks on predominantly Sunni areas struck north of Baghdad, officials reported.
The most fatal of Sunday’s attacks took place in the volatile northern province of Nineveh, where four people were killed by three separate attacks, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.
Elsewhere, a roadside bomb in Tikrit went off killing two civilians. In the southern Shiite-majority city of Kut, a university professor was shot dead, according to AFP.
International diplomats and analysts have repeatedly called on the Iraqi authorities to do more to resolve the sectarian tension engulfing the country. Iraq is currently in the grip of a sustained surge in violence that has been the worst the country’s seen since 2008.
According to an AFP tally, more than 2,000 people have died already this year.
The violence is largely driven by anger and disillusionment in the minority Sunni community, who say that they are treated unfairly by the Shiite-led majority government and security forces.
The increasingly violent spillover from the now three-year-old Syrian conflict has also had a negative impact on Iraq, with state security forces battling Al Qaeda militants for control of the restive Anbar province since December last year.
With elections scheduled to kick off on April 30, Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the other politicians running are reluctant to reach out to the Sunni community in order to save their campaigns.
