TIKRIT (AFP) - Attacks in northern Iraq on Thursday killed eight people, including a senior anti-terror officer who led a key fightback against Al-Qaeda in his province, police said. Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed al-Fahel, the head of the Saleheddin province anti-terror squad, and at least three of his bodyguards were among five people killed by a suicide bomb in Tikrit, the hometown of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, who was wearing a vest packed with explosives, said Colonel Abdel Haadi of the Salaheddin joint operations command. Seven people were wounded by the blast in a jewellery store, which occurred at around 5:00 pm (1400 GMT) in Tikrit, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Baghdad, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Fahel, who was in his 40s, was one of the leaders of a campaign against Al-Qaeda in predominantly Sunni Arab Salaheddin which began in 2007 and helped eradicate the terror networks presence in the province. The officer, who was also a policeman during Saddams rule, had previously escaped several assassination attempts. In another incident in northern Iraq, two soldiers were killed at a checkpoint in the town of Mohallabiyah when gunmen opened fire on them before fleeing. In the capital Baghdad, one person was killed and six wounded by a bomb in Adhamiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab northern neighbourhood, an interior ministry official said. Violence across Iraq dropped dramatically last month, with the fewest deaths in attacks since the US-led invasion of 2003. Official figures showed that a total of 122 people were killed last month 88 civilians, 22 policemen and 12 soldiers.