BAGHDAD, Oct 24: Attacks mostly targeting government officials and security forces in central and north Iraq killed 15 people in the run-up to the Eidul Azha holiday on Wednesday, Iraq's deadliest day this month.

The shootings and bombings, which also left 13 people wounded, were the latest sign of a relative spike in violence after several weeks of calm earlier this month.

In Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, a car bomb near the home of Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi's father killed four people — two policemen and two civilians — according to Lieutenant Colonel Yassin Dawish from the provincial security command centre.

The minister's father escaped unscathed, but four others were wounded, including three policemen, doctor Assim al-Hamdani from the city's hospital said. The police casualties were all the guards of the house.

Wednesday's deadliest attack, meanwhile, saw six employees of a government-run vehicle spare parts factory shot dead by gunmen using light weapons as the workers were returning to their homes, a police captain and an interior ministry official said.The attack occurred at around 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) in the town of Mishahada, which lies 30kms north of Baghdad, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In west Baghdad, meanwhile, gunmen opened fire on an army checkpoint in the upscale residential neighbourhood of Mansur, and then detonated a bomb when police arrived at the scene, an interior ministry official said.—AFP