Bomb explosions and clashes between rebels and Iraqi forces on Saturday claimed at least 23 lives in Samarra, north of Baghdad, in Iraq.
The incidents also left at least 42 injured, doctors and police said.
They said there were three car bomb explosions in the area. The local chief of a special Iraqi security force, Brigadier General Abdul Razak Mohammed al-Jarmani, was among those killed in a double car bomb attack in front of the local administration building.