At least 38 people were killed and several more injured in two car bombings in Iraq on Monday, officials said.
In the first attack, a suicide bomber killed at least 24 people on the outskirts of the Sunni town of Jurf al-Sakhar near Baghdad Twenty five people were also injured in the attack.
The attacker, who was driving a Humvee packed with explosives, rammed into a checkpoint managed by Iraqi troops and pro-government Shiite militiamen, a police officer said. He also said that most of the people who died were members of the Shiite militia.
In the second incident, which happened Monday night, a car bomb exploded in downtown Baghdad leaving 14 people dead and injuring 23 , police said.
Though no one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the methodology of the attacks bears the stamp of Islamic State group, reports the Associated Press.
Iraqi soldiers recaptured the Sunni town of Jurf al-Sakhar from the Islamic State militants on Sunday. Islamic State militants had captured the town in late July.
Jurf al-Sakhar, 50 kilometers south of Baghdad, is seen as a strategic buffer zone between the Islamic State bastions in Sunni Arab-dominated Anbar province and Shia-dominated southern Iraq. It also lies on a road taken by Shia Muslims when they visit the holy Shiite city of Karbala.
Meanwhile, al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front militants and other Syrian rebel factions infiltrated the northern Syrian city of Idlib and killed several troops, including officers, reports The Guardian.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Nusra Front militants and other rebels shelled Idlib and at the same time attacked army checkpoints there.
NusraFront said on its social media account that its forces cut the supply route to Idlib city. It also said that the group has captured 12 soldiers and seized two tanks.
However, Syrian state TV said that security forces resisted the attack on Idlib and several terrorist were killed.
The Observatory said that some of the Nusra Front militants killed in the fighting were foreigners, reports AP.
