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Suicide bomb kills 10 south of Baghdad

October 17, 2016 at 12:19 pm

A suicide driver detonated a car packed with explosives at a security checkpoint south of Baghdad today, killing ten people and wounding 25, police and medical sources said.

The blast happened as a convoy of Shia paramilitary fighters drove past the checkpoint in Yusufiya, 15 kilometres south of the Iraqi capital, the sources said.

It caused casualties among police and army personnel manning the position, as well as Shia fighters and civilians, they said.

The bombing comes as Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Mosul, the last city that remains under control of Daesh in Iraq, late last night.

According to reports from the ground, a number of villages have already been recaptured from the group. The US has said that the operation “will likely continue for weeks, possibly longer”.