A suicide car bomb blast claimed by Islamic State killed at least 13 people and wounded more than 50 others at a vegetable market in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, police and medical sources said.
The attacker drove the car through a gate to the market in the mainly Shi’ite district of Jamila, and detonated the bomb after security forces opened fire on the vehicle, a police source said.
Islamic State claimed the attack in an online statement, saying the bomber had targeted “a gathering of Shi’ites” in the area.
A series of attacks in the Iraqi capital and other cities in the country have killed dozens of people in just over a week.
Several have been claimed by Islamic State, which is coming under increasing pressure from a US-backed offensive in Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq.
{{/usCountry}}Several have been claimed by Islamic State, which is coming under increasing pressure from a US-backed offensive in Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq.
{{/usCountry}}Iraqi forces advanced to within several hundred metres of the Tigris river than runs through Mosul on Saturday, as their operation against the ultra-hardline group gathers pace.
Islamic State is likely to resort to bomb attacks and similar tactics elsewhere in Iraq as it is driven out of its Mosul stronghold.
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