IS militants have claimed similar attacks. A provincial spokesman says a suicide attack against a security checkpoint north of Baghdad has killed at least nine people. The spokesman for Salahuddin province, Ali al-Hamdani, said the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car during rush hour on Sunday morning into the main checkpoint at the southern entrance of the provincial capital, Tikrit. The Sunni extremists frequently launch attacks targeting Iraq’s security forces and civilians in public areas. In April 2015, Iraqi security forces drove out IS militants from Tikrit, about 130 kilometres north of Baghdad.

Source: The Hindu November 06, 2016 09:31 UTC