At least 47 killed in double Iraq bombings, say security sources

Islamic State claimed a car bomb attack on Monday that killed at least 40 people and wounded 55 in a marketplace north of the eastern Iraqi city of Baquba.

The group, which controls large swathes of the country’s north and west, said in a statement circulated online by supporters that the target was “rejectionists”, as the radical Sunni militants refer to Shia Muslims.

At least 47 people were killed and nearly 100 injured in two bomb attacks on Monday in eastern Iraq, said security and medical sources.

Islamic State claimed a car bomb attack that killed at least 40 people and wounded 55 in a marketplace north of the eastern Iraqi city of Baquba. The group, which controls large swathes of the country’s north and west, said in a statement circulated online by supporters that the target was “rejectionists”, as the radical Sunni militants refer to Shia Muslims.

Jihadist group

In January Iraqi officials declared victory over the radical jihadist group in Diyala province, which borders Iran, after security forces and Shia paramilitaries drove them out of towns and villages there, but the militants have remained active.

A separate blast to the east of Baquba killed a further seven people and wounded 25.

Pro-government forces are struggling to uproot Islamic State from large swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq which the group seized in a sweep across the Syrian border last summer.