Iraqis inspect the damage at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Khales, a town about 80 kilometres north east of Baghdad. Youis Al Bayati / AFP Photo
Iraqis inspect the damage at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Khales, a town about 80 kilometres north east of Baghdad. Youis Al Bayati / AFP Photo
Iraqis inspect the damage at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Khales, a town about 80 kilometres north east of Baghdad. Youis Al Bayati / AFP Photo
Iraqis inspect the damage at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Khales, a town about 80 kilometres north east of Baghdad. Youis Al Bayati / AFP Photo

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Suicide bomber kills 12 at checkpoint 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.

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BAQUBA, IRAQ // A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near a crowded checkpoint north of Baghdad on Monday, killing 12 people.

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.

Col Attiyah said the checkpoint was crowded with cars, and that a number of them were burnt in the blast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The blast came a day after a suicide bombing claimed by ISIL killed at least 15 people in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah neighbourhood.

ISIL overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground and are conducting operations to set the stage for the battle to recapture Mosul, the last ISIL-held city in the country.

ISIL has responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians, and experts have warned there may be more such attacks as they continue to lose ground.

* Agence France-Presse

Iraq