Iraq: Deadly car bombing at security checkpoint in Anbar province

Up to 11 people killed in the blast

Iraqi forces are seen outside the town of Akashat, northwest of the al-Anbar province, as they prepare a military operation to push out ISIS from the nearby areas, on September 15, 2017. AFP

Several people have been killed, and many more injured, when a car bomb detonated at a security checkpoint in Anbar province in western Iraq, a hospital said.

The attacker drove a car rigged with explosives into the checkpoint to the south of the city of Al Qaim, which was jointly manned by the Iraqi army and Shi'ite militia, the Popular Mobilsation Forces mayor Ahmed Al Mehlawy told Reuters.

Reported numbers of the exact number of people killed vary, with the Associated Press reporting five people killed, and AFP reporting 11 casualties.

Up to 26 people have been wounded, many in critical condition.

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Al Qaim is a former ISIS stronghold and lies 300 kilometres west of Baghdad in the Sunni province of Anbar, on the border with Syria.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Maj Gen Qasem Al Dulami blamed ISIS, who operate in the area, for the attack.

More to follow