Police: At least 30 killed as violence rocks Iraq

At least 30 people were killed in attacks across Iraq on Thursday, police officials said.

In the Nawafl district of central Muqdadiya, a car bomb exploded at a busy outdoor market, killing 14 people and injuring eight.

Muqdadiya is located in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. Nawafl is a small Sunni district in Muqdadiya, which is a largely Shiite town.

Another car bomb exploded in al-Maddan, southeast of Baghdad, at a popular coffee shop, killing eight people and injuring 18, the officials said.

Near Mosul, the northern metropolis, an Iraqi military helicopter struck gunmen in two vehicles, killing seven people.

While gunmen shot dead an employee working for the ministry of electricity in the al-Wahda neighborhood of eastern Mosul, the officials said.

The deadly fighting is the latest in a string of violence in recent months, much of it stemming from discord between Sunnis and Shiites.

Sunnis have long felt politically marginalized under a Shiite-led government in the post-Saddam Hussein era. They enjoyed more political clout during Hussein’s rule before his ouster after the U.S.-led 2003 invasion.

According to a CNN tally, close to 450 people have been killed in Iraq this month.

CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.