A bomb blast near the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul killed five children and wounded three as they were playing near their homes, police and a doctor said.
The bombers struck on Monday at around 6:30 pm (2100 IST) in the town of Hammam al-Ali, 20 kilometres south of Mosul, police officer Mohammed Sadeeq said.
Doctor Munthar Abdel Jabbar said the bodies of five children had been received at his clinic in the town.
He said two of the wounded were in critical condition and had been sent to Mosul for specialist treatment.
A three-year old girl was also killed on Monday when Iraqi soldiers opened fire after they were hit by a roadside bomb near Baquba, the capital of Diyala province north of Baghdad, witnesses said.
Diyala is one of the most dangerous regions of Iraq and has seen a major US-backed offensive against Al-Qaida in recent months.
In Baghdad, a car bomb killed three civilians and wounded seven in the Karrada district across the Tigris river from the Green Zone government compound, security officials said.