Seven killed in Iraq suicide attacks

At least seven people were killed and 30 others wounded in two suicide bomb attacks in and near Iraq's capital Baghdad Thursday, a police source said.

In one of the attacks, a suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the town of Yousifiyah, some 25 km south of the capital, leaving five people dead and some 20 others wounded, the source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

Several policemen were among the casualties of the blast which destroyed several nearby civilian cars, the source said.

Yousifiyah, in the sectarian mixed province of Babil, has witnessed the latest Sunni insurgency against the Shia-led government.

In a separate attack, a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at a Shia mosque in Adel district in the western part of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 10 others, the source added.

The toll could rise as ambulances and police vehicles continue to evacuate the casualties to hospitals, he said.

Iraq has been witnessing some of the worst violence in years. At least 12,282 civilians were killed and 23,126 others injured in 2014, making it the deadliest year since the sectarian violence in the 2006-2007 period, according to a recent UN report.