Eight killed, five injured in Iraq

Clashes between US forces and gunmen on the Mosul-Baghdad road, south of Mosul, left five gunmen dead, police told DPA.

Separately, a tribal conflict left three people dead and five injured north of Mosul.

Mosul is the capital city of Nineveh and lies some 400 km north of Baghdad.

Mosul and its environs are among the most diverse areas of Iraq, and among the most dangerous. Despite successive security pushes that police say have netted hundreds of suspected insurgents, conflicts take place in the city on a near-daily basis, with deadly effect.