Suicide attack kills 14 at Iraq checkpoint; 9 die in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint outside a Shiite town north of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 14 people, Iraqi officials said, while a string of bombings in the Iraqi capital killed nine more people.

Monday’s checkpoint bombing took place at one of the busy entrances to the town of Khalis, about 50 miles north of the Iraqi capital, a police officer said. The town is a Shiite enclave surrounded by Sunni areas in the restive Diyala province.

Eight police officers and six civilians were killed and up to 41 people were wounded, police said, adding that the explosion also damaged nearly 20 cars lined up at the checkpoint.

In an online statement posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.