Iraqi soldiers have killed more than 40 militants in clashes near Baghdad as anti-government fighters edged close to the capital just weeks before national parliamentary elections.
The firefight was the latest in a surge in bloodshed over the past year, amid fears insurgents could seek to destabilise the April 30 polls by upping the pace of attacks with violence already at its worst since 2008.
The bloodshed comes with campaigning under way for the elections, Iraq's first since March 2010, which the UN's special envoy has warned will be "highly divisive".
On Thursday morning, militants attacked an army camp in Yusifiyah, just southwest of Baghdad, an interior ministry statement said.
More than 40 insurgents died in the ensuing battle, with one army officer also killed.
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"Iraqi security forces confronted a failed attempt by Daash gang members to break into a military camp," the statement said, referring to the Arabic abbreviation for the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist group.
"The security forces... killed more than 40 terrorist attackers, and the attack resulted in the death of one of our officers when he was confronting these criminal gangs."
Elsewhere on Thursday, a series of attacks nationwide, including four car bombs, killed eight people, security and medical officials said.
Analysts and diplomats have urged the authorities to reach out to the Sunni community to undermine support for militancy, but with the elections looming, Maliki and other Shiite leaders have been loath to be seen to compromise.
Near-daily bloodshed is part of a long list of voter concerns that include lengthy power cuts, poor running water and sewerage services, rampant corruption and high unemployment.
