IS suicide bomber kills 16 at Iraq checkpoint

BAQUBA, Iraq: A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed 16 people at a crowded checkpoint north of Baghdad on Monday, security and medical officials said.

The blast at the entrance to the town of Khales also wounded 37, according to Diyala province police spokesman Colonel Ghalib al-Attiyah and health department spokesman Faris al-Azzawi.

Attiyah said the checkpoint was crowded with cars, and that a number of them were burned in the blast.

IS issued a statement claiming the attack, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi national.

The blast came a day after a suicide bombing claimed by IS killed at least 15 people in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah neighbourhood.

Earlier this month, IS carried out a suicide bombing in a crowded shopping area in Baghdad’s Karrada district that killed 292 people -- one of the deadliest such attacks to ever hit Iraq.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground and are conducting operations to set the stage for the battle to recapture Mosul, the last IS-held city in the country.