16 are killed in Iraq violence

Baghdad (CNN) -- Attackers killed at least 16 people and wounded more than 30 others in Iraq on Wednesday, police and health officials said.

The violence comes amid growing tensions, particularly between Sunnis and Shiites. Scores of people have been killed and wounded in bomb blasts and gunfights across the country since last week.

Three of the incidents occurred in predominantly Sunni Anbar province.

A suicide bomber in Falluja detonated an explosive vest among police officials and Awakening Council members lining up at a bank to receive their paychecks. At least five people died and 10 others were wounded there. One of those slain was a local police chief.

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Awakening Councils comprise the Sunni Arab fighters who turned against al Qaeda in late 2006. The U.S.-backed movement is credited as being one of the main factors that contributed to a drop in violence across Iraq, but council members have been targets of jihadists.

A suicide car bomb in the Albu Thiyab area targeted an Iraqi police patrol, killing three people, including two police officers, and wounding seven people, including police officers, women and children.

Also, two soldiers were critically wounded when a grenade was hurled at an army vehicle in Falluja.

Other attacks occurred outside of Anbar province.

In Tarmiya, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the capital, three police officers were killed when 20 gunmen attacked their station, authorities in Baghdad said. Iraqi security forces arrived about an hour later and repelled the attackers. Five security troops were wounded in the second battle.

A sniper in Mosul shot dead a Kurdish security forces member at an Iraqi army-Kurdish checkpoint. Also in Mosul, gunmen shot dead a Sunni politician while he was driving in his car.

A police officer was killed and two others were wounded in Baiji when gunmen attacked a checkpoint. A civilian was killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad.

A car bomb exploded at an Iraqi police point in Albu-Faraj, north of Ramadi, killing a police captain and wounding four people, including two police officers.