A suicide
attacker detonated an explosive belt in a park outside Baghdad on
Friday, killing 26 people and wounding 71, said the security head in
Babel province where the bomb - claimed by Islamic State - went off. The
blast in Iskandariya, a mixed Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim town 40
kilometers (25 miles) south of the capital, happened around 7:15 p.m.
(1615 GMT) at the end of an amateur soccer game, said Falah al-Khafaji. Islamic
State militants, who control swathes of territory in Iraq's north and
west, were behind the attack, according to Amaq news agency, which is
affiliated with the group. At least 60 people
were killed earlier this month in an attack claimed by Islamic State 80
km further south, in Hilla, when an explosives-laden fuel tanker slammed
into an Iraqi security checkpoint. An
apparent escalation of large bombings targeting areas outside Islamic
State's primary control suggests that Iraqi government forces may be
stretched thin after recent gains against the group in the western and
northern provinces.
Suicide bomber kills 26, wounds 71 south of Baghdad - official
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