BAGHDAD: A bloody two days of violence inIraqleft 118 people dead, with 99 of them killed in clashes and attacks involving security forces, protesters and their supporters, officials said on Wednesday.

More than 240 people were wounded in the same period, most of them in protest-related unrest, which prompted two Sunni ministers to quit and has sent tensions in the country soaring.

The violence, which began with clashes at a protest site in northernIraqafter security forces moved in, is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations in Sunni areas that erupted more than four months ago.

Protesters have called for the resignation of Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and railed against the alleged targeting of their community by the authorities.

In the deadliest violence on Wednesday, five soldiers and seven gunmen were killed and 63 people, including 20 soldiers, wounded in fighting in the Sulaiman Bek area north ofBaghdad, security officers and an official said.

Iraqi MP Ashwaq al-Jaf said dozens of people were wounded in air attacks by the Iraqi military in the area, and a high-ranking army officer confirmed helicopters were used in the fighting.

In other violence that officers said was also apparently in revenge for Tuesday's clashes, gunmen attacked a Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda militia checkpoint in Khales northeast of Baghdad, killing four militiamen and wounding a fifth, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

Gunmen also wounded a policeman in the northern city ofMosul, while a soldier was wounded in another shooting to its south, police and a doctor said. Three gunmen were also killed in theMosulattack.

Apparently unrelated violence in Tarmiyah andMosul, north ofBaghdad, and Fallujah, west of the capital, killed four more people and wounded at least 10, officials said.