4 killed in car bomb attack in Iraq

At least four people were killed and nine others injured in a car bomb explosion in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a government statement said.

The attack took place on Saturday afternoon when a booby-trapped car detonated at a crowded area near a government building in Baghdad's central district of Shawaka, Xinhua news agency cited the statement of the Baghdad Operations Command.

A police source said that the blast destroyed many civilian cars and caused damages to several buildings in the vicinity.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far .

The incident came as the Iraqi security forces and allied US-led coalition forces are carrying out a major offensive to dislodge IS group from its stronghold of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq.

Banned militant outfit IS, has carried out a series of counter-attacks by suicide bombers and car bombings in different parts of Iraq since the Mosul offensive started in mid-October.

The city has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.

--IANS

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