A suicide truck bombing in central Baghdad has killed at least three people, while Iraqi officials announced the discovery of at least 35 bodies elsewhere in the country.
More than 20 people were wounded in Wednesday's truck bomb attack that shook nearby buildings.
Police say gunmen fired on guards at a checkpoint outside the Agriculture Ministry building, while the suicide bomber drove into the ministry's compound and detonated his explosives-laden truck.
Meanwhile, Iraqi police said about 35 bodies -- all apparently killed execution-style and some beheaded -- were found near the town of Qaim, close to the Syrian border, and in a Sunni Muslim dominated region south of Baghdad.
Separately, in Basra , one Iraqi policeman was killed in a roadside bomb blast.
Information for this report is provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.