Iraq violence sees soldiers shot and burned

At least 12 people were killed across Iraq on Sunday in shootings and car bombs.

Five soldiers were killed on the road between Mosul and Baghdad when the taxis they were riding in were ambushed, said Reuters.

The soldiers were shot dead near Qaiyara town and their bodies were reportedly burned, according to a morgue in Mosul.

"One of the cars escaped the ambush but the second one could not and the militants shot dead five soldiers and burned their bodies after they killed them," a anonymous senior intelligence military officer said.

AFP reported that six soldiers had been killed in the attack.

Three other people were killed and 15 wounded in a car bomb in Balad, north of Baghdad.

Fifteen people were wounded in the blast that targeted Shias.

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Roadside bombs killed at least two others near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad.

The two killed were said to be part of a displaced Shia family that had recently returned home.

It is believed that a child was killed in one of the attacks.

Two others were shot near their homes in Mosul on Sunday.

Though no group has yet to claim responsibility for the attacks, it is likely the work of Sunni Islamist militant groups who oppose the Shia-led government.

Insurgents have tried to sow strife in Iraq to destabilize the government and create a backlash.

The skyrocketing violence over the last few months in Iraq has raised concerns about a renewed civil war. More than 1,000 Iraqis died in violence in July alone.