Baghdad Bombings: At Least 12 Dead

The bomber reportedly slammed his auto, which was loaded with explosives, into the checkpoint in northeastern al-Rashidiya district, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood. Up to 23 other people were wounded, he added.

The latest spate of attacks began with the most deadly on 3 July when a detonated bomb killed 292 people in Baghdad’s Karrada neighbourhood, a busy shopping district. And two more civilians were killed and nine were wounded in a bombing that targeted a commercial area in the capital’s southern neighbourhood of Dora, police also said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in Rashidiya, but ISIS regularly carries out such bombings in the capital and other parts of Iraq, where it seized large swathes of territory in 2014.

Speaking to Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, a medical official confirmed the casualty figures.

Last week, Daesh killed more than 300 people in two attacks.

Iraqi men inspect the site of a suicide bomb attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, at a checkpoint leading to the Husseiniyah area, northeast of the capital Baghdad on July 13, 2016. Police were forced to shut down several major roads around Baghdad as a result of the attack.

The parade is also marking the July 14 anniversary of the 1958 overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy and declaration of the republic of Iraq.

According to Carter, who on Monday met with top Iraqi officials, the new American forces should arrive in the coming weeks.

The Iraqi army has recaptured the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from Islamic State in recent months.