People gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 8, 2017. Up to 11 people were killed and 25 others wounded on Sunday in a suicide car bomb explosion in eastern part of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source said. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
BAGHDAD, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Up to 11 people were killed and 25 others wounded on Sunday in a suicide car bomb explosion in eastern part of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source said.
The attack occurred in the morning when a suicide bomber detonated his car bomb at a checkpoint at a busy intersection Jamila wholesale vegetable market in Sadr City neighborhood, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, Brigadier Saad Maan, spokesman of Baghdad Operations Command, said in a statement that a soldier at the checkpoint on the site opened fire on a suspected suicide car bomb and detonated it, putting the toll at six killed and ten wounded.
The massive blast left many nearby shops and stalls destroyed and set fire to several nearby vehicles, according to the spokesman whose Command is responsible on security of the Iraqi capital.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for such suicide bombing targeting Iraqi security forces as well as crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across the country.
The attack came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul.
Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S., which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.
