Four Anti-Qaida Fighters among 8 Killed by Iraq Bombs

Two bomb attacks in Iraq on Wednesday killed eight people, including four anti-Qaida fighters who died when a suicide bomber struck as they gathered to collect their salaries, officials said.

The bomber, who was on foot, detonated explosives at a police station in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, as the militiamen, known as Sahwa, gathered near a police station, police Lieutenant Colonel Khaled Yassir al-Jumaili said.

The blast killed five people, including a senior police officer and four Sahwa fighters. It also wounded 15 other people.

In a separate attack in Baghdad, a car bomb in the capital's Al-Husseiniyah area killed three people and wounded another 10, officials said.

Wednesday's attacks came after a wave of violence killed more than 240 people over seven days at the end of April, raising fears of a return to sectarian violence that left tens of thousands dead.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from the peak of the sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007, but violence remains common, killing more than 450 people in April, according to AFP figures based on security and medical officials.