Cairo, Jan 28 (IANS): At least eight people were killed Tuesday and three others injured in gun attacks targeting security forces in Iraq's Diyala province, a police source said.

At least five soldiers and a member of the government-run Sahwa paramilitary group were killed when gunmen attacked their checkpoint near the provincial capital of Baquba, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

At least, two Sahwa group members and a soldier were also injured in the attack, the source said.

The Sahwa militia, consists of armed groups, including some powerful anti-US Sunni insurgent groups, who turned their rifles against the Al Qaeda network after the latter exercised indiscriminate killings against both Shia and Sunni Muslim communities.

In a separate incident, gunmen opened fire on a car in Wajihiyah town, some 25 km from Baquba, killing two civilians aboard, the source said.

According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, a total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and police personnel, were killed in 2013.