Iraq's government acknowledges that the security situation has got significantly worse

Four people died in Baquba, the Diyala province capital, on Saturday and two were wounded after a roadside bomb targeting relatives of the Sunni Sahwa paramilitary exploded, a police officer told the AFP news agency.

The Sahwa, known as the Sons of Iraq by US forces and comprised of former Iraqi fighters, began to ally with American troops in 2006 in an effort to combat al-Qaeda members.

The force, now under the control of the Baghdad government, was credited with reducing violence, firstly in Anbar province and later in other areas of the country.

Multiple bomb attacks

In the northern city of Mosul, a traffic policeman died when a roadside bomb targeting a passing Iraqi army patrol was detonated, local police said.

In Baghdad, three people were killed when a parked car bomb exploded near an Iraqi army base close to the health ministry, an interior ministry official said.

An official at Medical City Hospital in the capital said 35  people were being treated for injuries.

In western Baghdad, a civilian was killed and another wounded when a bomb exploded as they drove past in their car.

Meanwhile, police said they successfully defused a bomb placed inside a Quran at a Shia shrine in the capital's Kadhimiyah district.

Situation deteriorating

The latest attacks come as the number of violent deaths in Iraq hit a 13-month high, raising renewed concerns about stability after the government admitted that security was worsening.

Government statistics showed that 456 people; 393 civilians, 48 police and 15 Iraqi soldiers, were killed - the highest  monthly toll since July 2008, when 465 died.

Twin truck bomb attacks on the finance and foreign ministries in Baghdad that left at least 95 people dead and 600 others wounded on 19 August largely contributed to the high number of Iraqis killed last month.

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