BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two suicide car bombers struck in central and northern Iraq on Thursday, killing at least five Iraqis and wounding more than 2 dozen while Shiites gathered around the country to celebrate a religious festival.
The attacks came as American military officials announced that three American soldiers were killed in action on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing the total in March to 35. That was the lowest monthly death toll in more than a year, according to the Defense Department Web site.
Several countries announced plans to take troops out of Iraq. Ukraine's president, Viktor A. Yushchenko, said Thursday that his country would withdraw all of its 1,650 soldiers by the end of the year. In Bulgaria, which is facing summer elections, a spokesman said the government would request parliamentary approval to withdraw its 450 troops by year-end, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu of Romania refused to answer questions about his plans for his country's 800 soldiers here, The Associated Press reported. Three Romanian journalists were abducted in Baghdad earlier in the week.
One suicide bomber drove a sedan packed with explosives into a crowd of celebrating Shiites in the northern city of Tuz Khurmato, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, killing four of them, American military officials said. Two of those killed were Iraqi army soldiers and two were civilians. Iraqi officials said 17 people were wounded in the attack.
In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, another suicide attacker drove into an American military vehicle, killing one Iraqi civilian and wounding seven, military officials said. No Americans were injured in the attack.
The attacks came on the Arbayeen festival, a Shiite holiday marking the end of a traditional 40-day period of mourning for Hussein, the martyr who was killed near Karbala in the seventh century. Insurgents have struck before on Shiite holy days, and Iraqi officials issued warnings in recent days about the possibility of more violence. On Wednesday, insurgents struck two groups of pilgrims on their way to Karbala for the festival, killing at least one and injuring others.
In Mosul, an American soldier was killed and five were injured on Wednesday when three insurgents opened fire as they approached a checkpoint in a taxi, said Sgt. John Franzen, a military spokesman. He said soldiers at the checkpoint returned fire, killing all three attackers, and said five Iraqi civilians were injured in the incident.
After the attacks, American and Iraqi forces in Mosul detained 26 suspected insurgents during a series of raids, military officials said.
In eastern Baghdad, an American soldier was killed Wednesday afternoon when his patrol came under small arms fire, military officials said. Soldiers saw an Iraqi fleeing into the crowd, and after searching the area, they detained five suspected insurgents for questioning.
The third soldier was killed in action on Thursday in Hawija, in northwestern Iraq, military officials said, without providing further details.
The governor of Najaf province, Asad Abu Galal, announced Thursday that he was taking command of the state security force that has supplemented Najaf's police since last year. He said members of the security force had stolen weapons and computers from the Najaf police, and added that bad management by Iraq's Interior Ministry was to blame.
But the commander of the security force, Abdulal al-Kufi, said he would not step down, and would wait for orders from the Interior Ministry. There have been similar clashes in the past year between Najaf officials and the city's police and security commanders, and it was not clear on Thursday whether the dissension was related to the gridlock in Iraq's new national assembly.
Barham Salih, Iraq's acting prime minister, extended by another month the state of emergency that has been in effect since November, just before the invasion of Fallujah. The interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, is out of the country on vacation.
The state of emergency includes a night curfew and grants the government broad powers to close borders, make arrests without obtaining warrants and conduct police and military operations.
On Thursday, members of Iraq's newly elected national assembly continued their efforts to settle on a Sunni Arab to become the assembly's speaker. The assembly's second session collapsed on Tuesday after members argued about the continuing failure to form a coalition to appoint a new government.
Contributing: Zaineb Obeid, Eric Schmitt.