Attacks in Iraq around religious ritual kill 22

Also on Wednesday, a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a police checkpoint outside the northern city of Tikrit, killing five police officers and three civilians, another police officer said.

The bombing in Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad, also wounded 18 people, the officer said.

Militants detonated bombs near police officers' homes in the town of Karmah, west of the Iraqi capital, killing four people and wounding 24, police said.

And in the nearby city of Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Baghdad, gunmen on foot shot and killed the mayor, Adnan Hussein, as he was supervising cleaning teams in one of the neighborhoods, a police officer said.