Iraq dean, professor killed

Story Highlights

• NEW: Gunmen attack Iraq army checkpoint, killing 13 soldiers, army official says
• NEW: Seven U.S. troops killed over three days, including five on Monday
• Two bombs kill eight people in central Baghdad Monday
• Thirty bullet-riddled bodies found across Baghdad, six in Mosul, seven in Falluja

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen killed the dean of the Political Science College and a professor at Mosul University's College of Arts on Monday, authorities said, topping a series of violent incidents.

The professor, Jaffar Hassan, was gunned down first, around 9 a.m. as he was going to work, police said.

Talal Younis al-Jalili, the college dean, was shot dead outside Mosul University in central Mosul around 2:30 p.m., local police said.

In addition, police found six bullet-riddled bodies across the city, located 261 miles (420 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Police also found seven unidentified bodies with shots to the head in southern Falluja around 8 a.m. Monday, a Falluja police official told CNN. The city is 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Baghdad.

South of Mosul, gunmen with machine guns killed 13 Iraqi soldiers and wounded four during an attack on an Iraqi army checkpoint around 2 p.m. Monday, an Iraq Army official in Mosul told CNN.

The attack happened near the town of Hadhar, about 186 miles (300 kilometers) north of Baghdad,

Violence in Baghdad

In the nation's capital itself, a pair of roadside bombs exploded along a commercial street in central Karrada district Monday, killing eight people and wounding 23 others, police said.

The first bomb detonated around 7:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. ET Sunday). The second bomb exploded as authorities and people in the area responded to the first attack.

It was the second day in a row that the Karrada district was hit by bombs. On Sunday, a minibus packed with explosives blew up on a commercial road there, killing 11 people and wounding 15 others, a Baghdad police official said. (More on Sunday violence)

Separately, police said they found 30 bullet-riddled bodies across the capital on Sunday. These deaths are typically attributed to sectarian violence in the capital between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, meanwhile, delivered on his threat last week and on Monday ordered six cabinet ministers from his political bloc to leave Iraq's government. (Full story)

More U.S. soldiers dead

The U.S. military announced the deaths of seven U.S. troops.

Three soldiers were killed in Baghdad and two Marines were killed in Anbar province on Monday, and the other two soldiers were killed Saturday in Falluja, commanders said in a written statement.

The deaths bring to 3,310 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion that toppled former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Seven military contractors also have been killed.

Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday urged Democrats to pass the war-spending bill he wants, namely one that funds the war without trying to limit or wind down the military mission.

Both the House and Senate have passed bills to both fund the war and start drawing troops home. They are expected to begin negotiating this week on a final version to send to Bush. (Full story)

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.