Suicide car bomber attacks police checkpoint in Iraqi capital, killing at least 8 people

BAGHDAD – Officials say a suicide attack against security forces in eastern Baghdad has killed at least eight people.

A police official says the suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the largely Shiite eastern neighborhood of Talibiyah on Thursday, killing five civilians and three policemen. He added that at least 20 others were wounded.

A medical official confirmed the causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information to the media.

The heavily guarded capital has been under nearly daily attacks by Sunni militants who overrun vast areas in western and northern Iraq since early this year. The Islamic State group, an al-Qaida breakaway group, and other Sunni militant groups have vowed to destabilize and take over Baghdad.