5 killed, 20 wounded when suicide bomb strikes Iraqi restaurant

At least five people were killed and some 20 others wounded on Monday in a suicide bomb attack at a restaurant in Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar, a provincial security source said.

The restaurant bombing brought the toll of suicide attacks on Monday across Iraq to at least 11.

The attack at the eatery took place at dawn when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at the restaurant on a main road south of the provincial capital city of Nassriyah, some 375 km south of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The attacker apparently targeted members of a Shiite paramilitary unit, known as Hashd Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization, who were having breakfast at the time, the source said.

Many civilians were also among the killed and wounded, the source added.

Earlier, security sources told Xinhua that a suicide bomber hit a crowded checkpoint in the northern part of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, leaving at least three people killed and 12 wounded, while another suicide bomber struck a convoy of vehicles carrying Shiite members of Hashd Shaabi unit on a main road in Mesha'hda area, some 30 km north of Baghdad, killing three members and wounding eight others along with destroying three of their vehicles.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the 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