At least 67 people have been killed in Iraq in a series of bomb attacks in the west and north of the country, as well as in the capital, Baghdad.
The attacks came as fighting continued between government forces and Islamic State militants in western and northern Iraq.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says Iraqi security forces remain in full control of Baghdad, despite car bomb attacks in Shi’ite areas of the city that killed at least 38 people since October 11.
The first attack occurred late on October 11 when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a security checkpoint in Baghdad's northern district of Khazimiyah, killing 13 people -- including three police officers.
A second car bombing in Baghdad's nearby district of Shula killed at least seven people and wounded 28.
Also in Shula, a suicide car bomb attack on a security checkpoint killed 18 people.
In Iraq’s Sunni heartland on October 12, to the north of Ramadi in Anbar Province, officials say a bomb blast killed the provincial police chief, General Ahmed al-Dulaimi.
That attack occurred as Dulaimi’s convoy was passing through territory that had been captured just a day earlier by government forces that are fighting IS militants.
Anbar’s provincial council has called upon the Iraqi government to ask for U.S. ground troops to help fight IS militants.
A U.S.-led coalition has supported government forces with air strikes.
But Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has repeatedly ruled out any foreign ground troops in Iraq.
Meanwhile, three car bombers attacked a government compound about 80 kilometers north of Baquba on October 12, killing at least 22 people.
Authorities say at least 60 people were wounded as a result of the triple suicide attack in the eastern province of Diyala.
Two improvised explosive devices also were detonated at a local market in the Dur al-Dhubat district in southern Baquba on October 12, killing six civilians and wounding 10.
During the past week, hundreds of people have been killed as militants have increased bomb attacks across northern and western Iraq and within Baghdad.
