As attacks targeting mostly Iraqi security forces killed three people in the oil-rich disputed province of Kirkuk on Monday, officials say two car bombings in Baghdad have killed at least four civilians and wounded 19 others.
In the disputed province of Kirkuk, separate gun attacks killed an anti-Qaeda militiaman and a private generator operator, while a roadside bomb in the main northern city of Mosul left a police colonel dead, security and medical officials said, AFP reported.

Both areas are home to substantial populations of Sunni Arabs, the minority community that has for months held demonstrations against alleged government targeting and discrimination.
Meanwhile, the deadliest of the Monday afternoon attacks came in the busy commercial Sadoun Street in central Baghdad, where a car bomb killed three civilians and wounded 10 others, the Associated Press reported two police officers as saying.

They added that another car bomb exploded in the capital’s eastern New Baghdad area as police were waiting for explosives experts to dismantle it. A civilian bystander was killed and nine others were wounded.

Two medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

Although violence has decreased sharply in Iraq since the height of insurgency, militants are still capable to carry out lethal attacks nationwide.

Analysts say government policies that have disenfranchised Iraqi Sunnis, coupled with the authorities’ refusal to make any major concessions to the protesters, have given militant groups fuel and room to maneuver among the disillusioned community.

The violence comes amid myriad political rows and fears that civil war in neighboring Syria could spill over into Iraq and plunge the country further into crisis.

Iraq is struggling to contain a wave of violence that has killed more than 440 people so far this month -- the second month in a row in which more than 400 people have died in unrest.

The violence has decreased from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, killing at least 200 people each month so far this year.