BEIJING, June 8 -- Four bomb attacks within seven minutes killed at least 18 people and wounded 39 in northern Iraq early Tuesday.

    The bombing came a day after the government announced it has detained nearly 900 suspected militants in a two-week sweep in Baghdad.

    The police said a car bomb also exploded in northernwestern Baghdad Tuesday, wounding at least 28 people.

    The attacks in northern Iraq appeared coordinated and aimed at checkpoints manned by members of Iraq's fledgling army.

    Brig. Gen. Anwar Mohammed Amin said the first explosion, caused by a roadside bomb, rocked Hawija, about 40 miles south of Kirkuk, at around 9:30 a.m., killing three civilians.

    Three suicide car bombers then struck in quick succession, attacking in Bagara, Dibis and at the entrance to Hawija. Amin said three soldiers were killed in the Bagara bombing.

    The military said Tuesday two Marines died Monday from wounds sustained in separate roadside bomb attacks near Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad.

    At least 1,672 U.S. military members have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

    Almost 850 people have died in the violence since Iraq's new Shiite-led government was announced April 28, but the carnage has been relatively subdued throughout the country, particularly in the capital, during the past three days.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)