By Agencies

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At least eight people have been killed and 22 others wounded after a car bomb exploded in the central Iraqi town of Zubaidiyah, security and medical officials said.

The explosion took place at a marketplace on Wednesday around 9:15 am (0615GMT) in Zubaidiyah, around 100km southeast of Baghdad in Wasit province.

The medical official said a child was among the dead, and women and children were among the wounded.

The attack comes a day after a series of attacks across Iraq killed 38 amid preparations for ceremonies on Friday to commemorate the birth of a key Shia figure.

Also on Wednesday, a series of morning assassinations with silenced pistols left three people dead in Baghdad - two police officers and a parliament official.

Targeted killings

In one shooting, a policewoman was killed by gunshots to the head in the east of the capital, an interior ministry official and a medic at Al-Kindi hospital said.

In west Baghdad, an off-duty police first lieutenant, who was wearing civilian clothes, was killed, the interior ministry official and a doctor at Yarmuk hospital said.

And an employee working at Iraq's parliament was gunned down in the north of the capital, the interior ministry official and a medic at Medical City hospital said.

On Tuesday, 26 people died when a truck packed with explosives detonated in a market in the central city of Diwaniyah.

The country suffered a wave of unrest in June that left at least 282 people dead, according to an AFP tally, though government figures said 131 Iraqis died.

While violence in Iraq has declined dramatically since its peak in 2006-2007, attacks remain common across the country.