At least 10 killed in suicide car bomb in south of Baghdad

At least 10 people were killed and 17 others wounded on Monday in a suicide car bombing targeting security forces south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source said.

The attack, on a security checkpoint in the town of Yousifiyah, some 25 km south of Baghdad, came just hours after Iraqi forces launched an offensive to flush out Islamic State (IS) militants from the city of Mosul, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Most of the killed and wounded were soldiers and policemen, who were checking civilian vehicles passing through the checkpoint, the source said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the IS was blamed for most similar suicide attacks in the past targeting crowded areas such as markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq. Endit