Gunmen killed 22 passengers on a bus coming from Syria late Monday in a desert region west of Baghdad, police general Haider Rzayj told the media.

"Some armed men stopped the bus coming from Syria Mo

The death toll in twin bombings that targeted Iraqi government offices in the western city of Ramadi has risen to nine, a health department official said on Tuesday.

Ramadi police had said seven people were killed and at least 51 wounded when a car bomb exploded Monday near the provincial headquarters in the heart of Ramadi, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, followed 15 minutes later by a suicide bombing.