In pictures: Iraqi violence

1 of 9 The body of Maj Gen Wael Rubaie, director of the National Security Ministry's operations is brought to hospital after he and his driver were killed in Baghdad's Mansour district.

2 of 9 A car bomb exploded at lunchtime outside the Habayibna restaurant in the Talibiya area of the capital.

3 of 9 Officials and eyewitnesses said eight people were killed and more than 70 injured.

4 of 9 The wounded were taken to five city hospitals.

5 of 9 A recent surge in violence across Iraq is estimated to have killed more than 550 people in less than a month.

6 of 9 A separate attack on a mosque at Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, killed at least seven people. Four-year-old Nori Abdul Hussein was one of many children wounded.

7 of 9 Nori's sister watches as he and their brother Ali, 6, are treated in Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital.

8 of 9 Five people died and eight were wounded in a suicide car bombing outside the town hall in Tuz Khurmatu, north of Kirkuk.

9 of 9 Iraqi police officers survey the damage of yet another car bomb in a month when violence has escalated.