At least 3 militiamen killed in suicide car bomb attack near Baghdad

At least three members of a government-backed Shiite paramilitary group were killed and eight others wounded on Monday in a suicide car bomb attack north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua.

The attack occurred in the morning when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a convoy of vehicles carrying members of Imam Ali Brigade and detonated it on a main road in Mesha'hda area, some 30 km north of Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The massive blast destroyed three vehicles of the paramilitary unit, which is part of Hashd Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization, the source said.

Earlier, the source said, at least three people were killed and 12 others wounded during morning rush hour when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest at a crowded checkpoint near a hospital in Sab'a Abkar district in the northern part of Baghdad.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the two bombings, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group is believed to be behind most such attacks in the past, which usually targeted crowded areas like markets, cafes and mosques.

Iraq has been suffering from a wave of violence since the IS terrorist group took control of parts of its northern and western regions in June 2014.

A UN report estimates that more than 22,300 people were killed or injured in armed conflicts in Iraq in 2015 alone. Endit