Sixteen people have been killed in attacks in Iraq as the country grapples with its worst bloodshed in years just weeks before parliamentary elections.
Among them were six who died in a mass assassination on Sunday south of Baghdad, in scenes reminiscent of the worst of Iraq's 2006-07 sectarian conflict.
The surge in violence has left more than 2400 people dead so far this year.
It has been principally driven by anger in the Sunni Arab minority over alleged mistreatment by Shi'ite-led authorities, as well as spillover from the war in neighbouring Syria.
The deadliest strike happened in Latifiyah, south of Baghdad within the confessionally mixed Triangle of Death, so called because of the brutal violence which plagued the area during the peak of Iraq's confessional war.
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Six Sunni Arabs were killed by militants, security and medical officials said, but accounts differed as to how they died.
Two officials reported a family of six were stabbed to death, while others said six Sunni men were taken from various houses in the town and shot dead.
Attackers also struck in the restive northern provinces of Kirkuk, Nineveh and Salaheddin, leaving four people dead, while six militants were also killed.
Diplomats and analysts have urged the authorities to reach out to the Sunni community to undermine support for militancy.
But with parliamentary elections looming at the end of this month, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Shi'ite leaders have been loath to be seen to compromise.
