Death toll from Iraq violence rises to 51

THE death toll from a wave of attacks in Iraq mainly targeting security forces and Shi'ites has risen to 51 with 26 of them police and soldiers, officials say.
Thursday's attacks came amid a surge in violence that has killed more than 2500 people already this year, including upwards of 250 so far this month.
Analysts point to widespread discontent among Iraq's minority Sunni community, and the Shi'ite authorities' failure to address their grievances, as the main factors driving the increase in violence.
In Thursday's single deadliest incident, gunmen shot dead 11 police charged with protecting the country's vital oil infrastructure and three soldiers on the road between Haditha and Baiji, northwest of the Iraqi capital.
In another attack, a car bomb ripped through a funeral tent where family members of a Shi'ite man were receiving condolences in Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, and a suicide bomber detonated explosives when emergency personnel arrived.
The blasts killed a total of 10 people and wounded 22.
And a car bomb near a Shi'ite religious hall close to Dujail, north of Baghdad, killed nine people and wounded 21 more.
Many people gather at places of worship at night during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began earlier this week.
Sunni militants including those linked to al-Qaeda frequently target members of Iraq's Shi'ite majority, whom they regard as apostates.