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Explosion near Iraq’s Khalis kills at least 17 people

The death toll could rise as many were critically injured.

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A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden auto into a crowded checkpoint outside of Baghdad, killing at least 14 people, Iraqi officials said on Monday.

A vehicle packed with explosives was driven to an entrance of the Shiite town of Khalis, around 80km north of Baghdad.

The blast at the entrance to the town of Khales also wounded 37, according to Colonel Ghalib Al Attiyah, the Diyala province police spokesman, and health department spokesman Faris Al Azzawi.

Eight policemen and six civilians were killed and up to 41 other people were wounded, the officers said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group carries out frequent suicide bombings in Iraq.

The ultra-hardline militants have lost much of the territory they seized in 2014 and Abadi has pledged to retake this year the northern city of Mosul, the group’s de facto capital in Iraq.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures.

Up to 12 people were killed and 25 others wounded on Monday in a suicide auto bomb attack in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, a provincial security official told Xinhua.

Security forces and public areas, mainly in Shiite neighborhoods, are one of the most frequent targets for the extremist group, which controls key areas in mainly northern and western Iraq.

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But the extremists have continued to carry out near-daily bombings in and around Baghdad, as well as complex attacks in other countries.

Iraq suicide bombing: 12 dead, 20 wounded in northern Baghdad