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Bombings throughout Iraq kill at least 40; Anbar fighting kills 21

BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Attacks across Iraq, including three bombings in Baghdad, killed at least 40 people, while fighting in restive Anbar province killed at least 21, police said.

In Baghdad's Sadr City Thursday, a bomb-laden motorcycle exploded near a market, killing at least 32 people and injuring 56 others, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

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Also in Baghdad, an explosive device destroyed a minibus at Muthafar Square, killing five civilians and wounding two others, while a bus hit a bomb in northeast Baghdad, killing a passenger and wounding three others, police said.

Two Iraqi soldiers were killed in when a car bomb exploded in Tarmiya area north of the capital, Xinhua said.

In Salahudin province, gunmen struck a checkpoint operated by members of a government-backed paramilitary group in Shirqat and killed two members of the group.

In Diyala province, police found the bullet-riddled body of an ex-officer who served in the military under deposed and hanged strongman Saddam Hussein. Police said the former military officer had been kidnapped from his home.

In Anbar province, gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in Ramadi, killing two soldiers, Xinhua reported.

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Snipers shot and killed a civilian in the militant-seized city of Fallujah, local police said.

Government and militants have been fighting in Anbar province after Iraqi police dismantled an anti-government protest site near Ramadi in late December.

Eighteen gunmen, thought to have ties with al-Qaida organizations, were killed in clashes with Iraqi forces near Ramadi.

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