Suicide bomb kills at least 13 near Baghdad — Iraqi officials

BAGHDAD — An evening suicide bombing in a commercial area in a city northeast of Baghdad killed at least 13 people, Iraqi officials said Tuesday.

The bomber blew up his explosives-laden minibus shortly before sunset Monday near a bakery and a falafel restaurant in a Shiite neighbourhood of the city of Baqouba, a police officer said. The explosion in the neighbourhood of Shifta also wounded at least 60 others, he added.

Baqouba, the provincial capital of Iraq’s Diyala province, is 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad. A medical official confirmed casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorised to release the information.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of the Daesh terror group, which controls large stretches of territory in the country’s west and north, as well as Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul.

Commercial and public places in Shiite-dominated areas are among the most frequent targets for the militants seeking to undermine the Iraqi government efforts to maintain security inside the capital.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in Shiite sections of Diyala in the past months. In February, the province was the scene of one of the area’s deadliest attacks, when an Daesh-affiliated suicide bomber struck mourners in a crowded funeral reception hall, killing up to 40 people and wounding dozens.