BAGHDAD — Attacks in Iraq on Thursday killed 11 people, including four soldiers, officials said, the latest in a wave of violence that has left 420 people dead so far this month.



Gunmen attacked a checkpoint in Taji, north of Baghdad, killing the four soldiers and wounding five others, security and medical officials said. Four others were wounded in the attack. The militants fled the area after a brief clash without suffering casualties.



Taji is a former insurgent stronghold, located about  km north of the Iraqi capital.



The attack followed a spike in violence last week that left nearly 300 people killed.



Alarmed by a nationwide deterioration in the security situation, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki ordered a reshuffle in senior military ranks.



Near Baquba, also north of the capital, a roadside bomb in a market killed four people and wounded two, while gunmen killed two police and wounded two others in another attack.



Gunmen also killed a civilian in the north Iraq city of Mosul, police and a doctor said.



And in Tikrit, another city north of Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, wounding two policemen.



Thursday’s attacks come a day after 22 people were killed in violence, among them were 12 shot dead at a Baghdad brothel and eight militants killed by security forces. — Agencies