Car bombs kill at least 14 civilians in Iraq

Car bombs ripped through commercial areas in and around the Iraqi capital today, killing at least 14 civilians, officials said.
The deadliest attack took place in Khilani Square, a busy commercial area in central Baghdad, where a car bomb killed at least seven people and wounded 25, a police officer said. The car was parked near a Sunni mosque and a gathering of motorcycle vendors.
Hours earlier, an explosives-laden car ripped through a commercial area in the town of Mahmoudiya, about 30 kilometres south of Baghdad, killing at least four civilians and wounded another nine, another police officer said.
Three people were killed and 13 wounded in another car bomb explosion in Baghdad's southwestern Amil neighbourhood, he added.

Medical officials confirmed the toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.
Baghdad sees near-daily bombings mainly targeting security forces and the country's Shiite majority. The Islamic State group and other Sunni extremists are believed to be behind the attacks.

Government forces are struggling to dislodge Islamic State militants from the western province of Anbar and much of northern Iraq.
Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militias and US-led airstrikes managed to retake the northern city of Tikrit, but they have also suffered a number of setbacks.
Yesterday, IS militants attacked a border crossing between Iraq and Jordan with three suicide car bombs, killing four Iraqi soldiers.

The day before, the militants attacked an army base guarding a lock system on the canal between Lake Tharthar and the Euphrates River in Anbar, killing the army's 1st Division commander and several others.