Islamic State suicide attacks in and around Baghdad leave 31 dead

Two suicide attacks in and around the Iraqi capital have killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens, officials have said.

Iraqi security forces and rescue workers at the site of car bomb attack in the mostly Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad Jadida. Picture: Getty Images

The deadliest attack took place in a commercial area of a majority Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad. At least 19 civilians were killed and 46 wounded, police said.

Another suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into an Iraqi army checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people, police said.

Meanwhile, seven civilians and five troops were killed in the attack in the town of Taji, about 12 miles north of the capital, a police officer said. At least 32 people were wounded.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures.

In an online statement, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in the New Baghdad neighbourhood, saying it targeted Shiite militia members.

It later claimed responsibility for the Taji bombing in a second online statement, saying it was targeting the Iraqi army.

The authenticity of the statements could not be verified, but they were posted on a militant website commonly used by the extremists.

The Sunni militant group often targets Iraq’s Shiite majority, security forces and government officials. Baghdad has seen near-daily attacks in recent weeks.

The United Nations special envoy to Iraq, Jan Kubis, described the attacks as “cowardly acts,” ­saying they are “not only aim at inflicting a heavy toll on the civilian population, but also seek to weaken the country’s unity and destroy its social fabric”.

“The Daesh [another name for IS] terrorists should not be allowed to succeed,” he added.

The deadly attacks are seen by Iraqi officials as an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces’ attention from the front lines. The attacks came a day after Iraqi special forces pushed into the IS-held city of Fallujah in a large-scale military operation launched last month.

Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, is one of the last major IS strongholds in western Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the country’s north and west, as well as holding Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.