SAMARRA, Iraq, Jan 4 (AFP) - A Turkish truck driver was among eight people killed in violence in the restive Sunni Arab belt north of Baghdad Tuesday, police and the military said.
Three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a bomb attack on their convoy in the city of Samarra, recaptured from insurgents in a major US-led assault in early October, an army officer said.
Further south, three national guardsmen were killed in a roadside bombing near the town of Baquba, an officer said.
The Turkish truck driver was killed in ambush in the same area, police said, adding that he was working under contract with the US military.
In the nearby town of Duluiya, an insurgent was killed and five soldiers wounded in a firefight, police said.
Near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, two polling stations being readied for this month's landmark nationwide elections came under insurgent attack, police said.
Iraq's fledgling security forces have borne the brunt of rebel attacks in recent months. They accounted for the lion's share of the 45 people killed in a rash of violence north of Baghdad Monday.
01/04/2005 13:12 GMT - AFP