Iraqi officials say insurgents attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq have killed at least 40 people.

US soldier stands guard in the area where a suicide car bomber detonated his load in Shula, Baghdad, 23 Mar 2008

In the Iraqi capital Sunday, gunmen in several cars opened fire on pedestrians in a religiously mixed southern district, killing seven people. A suicide car bomber also killed at least six people in a Shi'ite neighborhood (Shula) of Baghdad.

Earlier, insurgents fired rockets or mortars into Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone and other parts of the city. No casualties were reported in the Green Zone, but the attacks killed at least eight people in eastern Baghdad.

In northern Iraq, a suicide truck bomber killed 13 Iraqi soldiers at an army base in Mosul, while a roadside bomb killed four Iraqi soldiers in Tuz Khurmato.

The U.S. military says its forces killed 12 insurgents in a raid today in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

The military says six of those killed had shaved their bodies in apparent preparation for suicide missions.

The U.S. military also says troops killed five suspected associates of al-Qaida in Iraq leaders in a battle Saturday in northeastern Iraq, near the Iranian border.

Iraqi officials also reported at least two people killed in shootings Sunday, including a police officer.

Baghdad's Green Zone has long been a target of rocket and mortar attacks, which the U.S. military has blamed on Shi'ite militants it says are backed by Iran.  Iran denies charges that it funds and trains Iraqi militants.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.