HAWIJAH (Iraq), June 7: At least 30 Iraqis were cut down on Tuesday by violence across Iraq that defied government and US efforts to stem a dogged insurgency. Fourteen Iraqis were killed, half of them soldiers, in three early morning car bomb attacks around the northern town of Hawijah in the latest major attack on Iraq’s security forces.

The explosions occurred as officials hailed gains from Operation Lightning, a more than two-week-old sweep of the capital, but warned against complacency, saying the insurgency’s demise would be a “slow death”.

The three suicide bombers struck almost simultaneously, targeting army checkpoints on the northern, western and eastern entrances of Hawijah.

The latest casualty toll from the attacks was 14 killed and 20 wounded said Dr Jasim Hamad, director of Hawijah’s general hospital. Among the dead were seven soldiers, three children and a woman.

Nine people were killed in Mosul, including four peshmerga militiamen reportedly shot dead by police.—AFP