An attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a police checkpoint in southern Iraq left at least seven people dead on Sunday, officials said.

Gunmen wearing suicide vests and driving an explosives-laden vehicle opened fire on the checkpoint near the town of Qadisiyah, which lies around 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Baghdad.

“The security forces fought back, killing the attackers and blowing up the car,” an interior ministry statement said.

“They were planning to head to Najaf to blow themselves up there,” interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said, referring to a holy Shiite city around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the north.

Maan said seven people were killed by the attackers and 15 wounded. He said five policemen were among the dead.

The military commander for the area, Major General Qais al-Rahaima, gave the same death toll and said at least 11 were wounded.

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

Najaf is considered a religious capital for Iraq’s Shiite majority and has always been seen as a major potential target for IS, which views Shiites as heretics.

The jihadist group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in a statement that said five of its suicide attackers had been killed and putting the number of victims killed and wounded at 100.

The group had also claimed twin bombings at a market area in central Baghdad on Saturday that left at least 27 people dead and more than 50 wounded. </s> Officials say at least 20 have been killed and 34 wounded in blast at a market in Musayyib, south of Baghdad.

At least 20 people have been killed and 34 wounded after a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a market in the Iraqi town of Musayyib, south of the capital, Baghdad, according to police.

"A suicide bomber blew himself up in Musayyib market, causing 20 civilian martyrs," an interior ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency

A police officer and a medic at a local hospital said at least 34 people had been wounded in the blast.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group claimed the attack in a statement on its Amaq website.

Musayyib, about 60km south of Baghdad, has been hit by several attacks in recent years.

At least 22 people were killed and 50 wounded in 2014 when a mortar struck a busy area of the town.

Less than two weeks ago, two blasts in the space of 12 hours ripped through Baghdad, killing at least 27 people and wounding more than 100 others. ISIL claimed responsibility for the first suicide car bomb attack, which took place in the district of Karrada.

READ MORE: How the war changed Ramadan in Baghdad

Last July, ISIL claimed an attack that killed nearly 300 people in the worst attack to hit the capital in 13 years of war.

Further north, Iraqi forces are currently fighting to retake the last ISIL-held areas of Mosul.

Iraqi commanders say the offensive, which recently entered its eighth month, will mark the end of ISIL in Iraq, but concede the group will likely increase attacks in the wake of military defeats. </s> At least 50 people have been killed and over 80 more injured in a pair of gun and car bomb attacks in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, Reuters reports, citing health officials. Iranian media said that among the victims were Iranian pilgrims.

In the first attack, a group of gunmen entered a restaurant off the Dhi Qar highway and began shooting at random, hitting at least 50 people, local media reports.

Shortly afterward two suicide bombers, including one driving a car rigged with explosives, blew themselves and the car up at a security checkpoint nearby, Iraqi officials told AFP.

The survivors being taken to the al-Batha and Nasiriyah hospitals, Press TV reports.

Jassem al-Khalidi, a senior health official, told the TV channel that more than 87 people had sustained injuries in the attacks.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks. Nasiriyah is the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate, which has a large Shiite population. Shiites and other ethnic and religious minorities have often been targets of Sunni militants in Iraq, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). </s> Local media reported that the incident took place in Qadisiyah district on Sunday, with both security forces and civilians believed to be among the casualties.

Separately, gunmen raided a checkpoint in Najaf’s al-Meshkhab area, but the number of possible casualties remains unclear, Press TV reported.

Meanwhile, local sources have reported several mortar attacks around Najaf Province.

The Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terror group has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack. The terrorists have in recent months increased their acts of violence across Iraq in revenge for the blows they have been taking from Iraqi armed forces in the battle for the liberation of Mosul.

On Saturday, the capital Baghdad also witnessed bloodshed. At least 28 people lost their lives in a bomb explosion at a crowded market. The attack was later claimed by Daesh.

In another development on Saturday, an improvised explosive device went off in the district of Yarmuk in western Baghdad, leaving a civilian wounded.

Two more people were also injured after a magnetic bomb exploded on al-Qanat Highway in eastern Baghdad

Meanwhile, Baghdad Operations Command spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said that five booby-traps had exploded in northwestern Baghdad, killing one person and hurting six others.

Data from monthly reports issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) shows that acts of terrorism killed a total of 12,038 Iraqis and injured 14,411 others in 2016.

Iraqi forces advance on Mosul, kill Takfiris

On Saturday, Iraqi forces made fresh gains against Takfiri militants in their push to liberate the northern city of Mosul, the last Daesh stronghold in the country, killing some 200 terrorists.

The commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said a unit of the Iraqi army had hoisted the national flag over buildings in the village of Arkub, situated in the north of Hudaba neighborhood.

The Arabic-language al-Forat news agency also reported that members of the Popular Mobilization Units, backed by federal police forces, retook the village of Shukran after engaging terrorists and killing a large number of them.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s War Media Cell said policemen had clashed with Daesh elements in Mosul’s southeast, releasing several trapped locals.

Separately, Iraq’s Defense Ministry reported that two militant mortar firing positions and six vehicles had been destroyed in Arkub. Some 55 militants died on the northern front of the Mosul battle.

On the eastern front, two explosives-laden vehicles were destroyed and 45 militants were killed in clashes with Iraqi army soldiers.

In southern Mosul, federal police forces got rid of seven explosives-packed vehicles and killed 86 Daesh terrorists.

Iraqi army troops and allied fighters launched a long-awaited operation to recapture Mosul on October 17.

Defeating Daesh in the city would be a major blow to the Takfiri outfit that began its campaign of terror in northern and western Iraq more than two years ago.

Earlier this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said it would take three months to rid the country of Daesh. </s> At least 50 people have been killed and over 80 more injured in a pair of gun and car bomb attacks in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, Reuters reports, citing health officials. Iranian media said that among the victims were Iranian pilgrims.

In the first attack, a group of three or four gunmen entered a restaurant off the Dhi Qar highway and began shooting at random, hitting at least fifty people, several media reported.

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Shortly afterward two suicide bombers, including one driving a car rigged with explosives, blew themselves and the car up at a security checkpoint nearby, Iraqi officials told AFP.

The survivors are being treated at the al-Batha and Nasiriyah hospitals, but due to the nature of some of the injuries the death toll is expected to rise, the director of the city's Health Directorate, Jasim al-Khalidi, told Reuters.

Jassem al-Khalidi, a senior health official, told the TV channel that more than 87 people had sustained injuries in the attacks.

The majority of casualties are expected to be Iranian pilgrims, provincial governor Yahya al-Nassiri told AP, who were sat inside the restaurant at the time of the first attack.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the attacks through it’s propaganda wing, the Amaq Agency.

Nasiriyah is the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate, which has a large Shiite population. Shiites and other ethnic and religious minorities have often been targets of Sunni militants in Iraq, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). </s> ISIS: Terror group claims attack in southern Iraq kills at least seven

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

An attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a police checkpoint in southern Iraq left at least seven people dead on Sunday, officials said.

Gunmen wearing suicide vests and driving an explosives-laden vehicle opened fire on the checkpoint near the town of Qadisiyah, which lies around 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Baghdad.

"The security forces fought back, killing the attackers and blowing up the car," an interior ministry statement said.

"They were planning to head to Najaf to blow themselves up there," interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said, referring to a holy Shiite city around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the north.

Maan said seven people were killed by the attackers and 15 wounded. He said five policemen were among the dead.

The military commander for the area, Major General Qais al-Rahaima, gave the same death toll and said at least 11 were wounded.

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

Najaf is considered a religious capital for Iraq’s Shiite majority and has always been seen as a major potential target for IS, which views Shiites as heretics.

The jihadist group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in a statement that said five of its suicide attackers had been killed and putting the number of victims killed and wounded at 100.

The group had also claimed twin bombings at a market area in central Baghdad on Saturday that left at least 27 people dead and more than 50 wounded.

This post was syndicated from pulse.ng - Nigeria's entertainment & lifestyle platform online. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook </s> At least 12 people have been killed and 50 injured in a car bomb explosion at a vegetable market in eastern Baghdad, police said.

The blast took place in the mainly Shia district of Jamila, Reuters reported. Islamic State (Isis) claimed responsibility for the attack. In an online statement, the group said a suicide bomber detonated explosives.

Interior ministry spokesperson Saad Maan told AFP "A soldier at the gate of Jamila market opened fire on a suicide car bomber after noticing a suspect vehicle but the terrorist blew up his car."

Dozens of people have been killed in a wave of blasts in the Iraqi capital and other cities in recent weeks. Many of them have been claimed by Islamic State (Isis). </s> BAGHDAD -- Iraqi officials say a pair of suicide bombers detonated their explosives belts at a checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing nine people, including four members of the security forces.

The police and hospital officials said the Sunday attack near the holy Shiite city of Najaf also wounded 22.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

It came one day after two suicide bombers killed at least 28 people at a Baghdad market.

That attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.

Baghdad has seen near-daily attacks blamed on Islamic militants since 2003. </s> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb blast killed at least one person and injured more than a dozen in the Iraqi town of al-Qaim on the Syrian border on Friday, a statement from Iraq’s military said.

The military said one person was killed, and 16 people were injured. A local senior police source put the number killed at three, with 23 injured. The military and the police said four members of the security forces were among those injured.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in al-Qaim, which went off in the middle of a busy market on Friday morning. It was described by the military in its statement as a terrorist attack.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December 2017 after two years of fighting. However, Islamic State militants have continued to carry out insurgent-style attacks on security forces across the country.

Earlier this week, a car bomb blast killed two people and injured six in Tikrit, a city 150 km (95 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Al-Qaim was recaptured from Islamic State in November 2017 and was the group’s last bastion in Iraq to fall last year.
A suicide car bomb explosion and gunmen attack in Iraqi al-Qadisiya town situated in west of Najaf, kills at least 7 people and injures more than 17 others. Yesterday, 29 people were killed in a bomb explosion at a busy market in Iraq’s capital Baghdad. ISIS claims responsibility.