At least nine people were killed in a series of shootings and bomb attacks in Iraq on Thursday, dpa reported referring to local media, a day after the premier threatened to call for early elections.
Two civilians died and 15 were wounded when a car bomb went off in the village of al-Taji near the capital Baghdad, according to the news website Al-Forat.
Another car bomb in Washash in western Baghdad killed one civilian and wounded seven, the report said.
In Baqouba, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, two policemen and two members of the Sunni pro-government Sahwat (awakening) militia were shot dead, the report said.
Two more Sahwat militiamen were killed when unknown assailants opened fire on their checkpoint in Samarra, 120 kilometres north of Baghdad, police sources told dpa.
The attacks come a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatened to call for early elections because of a deadlock over power-sharing.
The political crisis, ongoing since December, has crippled government institutions and divided parliament, say observers.
Opponents of the Shiite premier include Sunni, Kurdish and some Shiite leaders who accuse al-Maliki of monopolizing power. They have recently joined hands in a bid to remove him from office.
Elections in Iraq are scheduled for 2014.