10 killed in Baghdad suicide bombing

At least 10 persons were killed and 17 injured in a suicide car bombing targeting security forces in Baghdad city of Iraq on Monday, the police said.

The attack, on a security checkpoint in the town of Yousifiyah, some 25 km south of Baghdad, came just hours after Iraqi forces launched an offensive to flush out Islamic State (IS) militants from the city of Mosul, the police source told Xinhua news agency.

Most of those killed and wounded were soldiers and policemen, who were checking civilian vehicles passing through the checkpoint, the source said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the IS was blamed for most of the similar suicide attacks in the past targeting crowded areas such as markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

--IANS

py/vt