(VOVworld)-At least 50 people were killed and 103 others wounded in car bomb attacks and clashes in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh on Friday.

The blasts also destroyed several houses in the village of the Shabak ethnic minority group, the source said. Iraq is witnessing some of its worst violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, a total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, the highest annual death toll in years.