BAGHDAD

A new wave of attacks across Iraq killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens today as the government pressed on with its offensive to hunt down al-Qaidalinked militants in the country’s volatile western desert.

A government statement said security forces backed by helicopters have been combing the desert near the borders with Syria and Jordan.

The deadliest among today’s attacks was near Baghdad’s western suburb of Abu Ghraib, where militants fired mortar rounds into a military base, killing three officers and three soldiers, a police officer said. Seven soldiers were wounded in that attack.

Hours later, a bomb went off next to a passing military patrol in the same area, killing two, an officer and a solider, he added. Two other soldiers were wounded.

In Baghdad’s southern district of Dora, gunmen broke into a pet shop and killed four men, another police officer said.

Three civilians were killed and nine were wounded when a bomb ripped through an outdoor market in the Iraqi capital’s northwestern Tobchi district. And on a highway in eastern Baghdad, drive-by shooters opened fire at a bus, killing two commuters and wounding nine, he said.

Separately, gunmen attacked a bus in the town of Baqouba, a former al-Qaida stronghold located about 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, killing three commuters and wounding six there, police said.

Three medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Today’s attacks brought the total number of people killed so far this month to 394. According to U.N. estimates, more than 8,000 people have been killed since the start of the year as insurgents seek to undermine government efforts to maintain security nationwide.

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