Baghdad, April 21 (RHC)-- At least 16 people have been killed and a number of others injured in separate terrorist attacks across Iraq amid a surge of violence ahead of the country’s parliamentary elections.

According to security and medical sources, in the deadliest attack on Monday a bomber exploded a car rigged with explosives at a police checkpoint in Suweirah area, south of the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, killing 13 people and injuring 35 others.

Meanwhile, another car bomb explosion hit a checkpoint in the town of Madain, leaving at least two people dead and five wounded. Elsewhere, gunmen shot dead one person and injured at least one other in Latifiyah, officials said.

The deadly assaults come a day after violence claimed at least 16 lives across Iraq, which is preparing for its parliamentary polls on April 30th.

Iraqi troops, backed by local tribesmen, have been fighting al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in the country’s western regions, including Anbar Province, since late December 2013. Iraq’s Interior Ministry has said militants have launched an open war in Iraq and they want to push the Middle Eastern country into chaos.