Suicide bombing kills 11 security members in Iraq

At least 11 security members were killed and some 25 others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack in Iraq's central Babil province, a provincial security source said on Monday.

In early hours of Monday, a suicide bomber blew up an Humvee packed with explosives at a checkpoint manned by security forces and Shiite militia in al-Farsiyah area north of the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, some 60 km south of Baghdad, a security source from Babil province told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The Humvee was likely seized earlier from defeated government troops on June 10 after the Iraqi security forces abandoned their bases following the blitzkrieg of the Islamic State (IS) group across Iraq in which the al-Qaida offshoot and other Sunni militant groups seized large swathes of territories in predominantly Sunni provinces.

The attack came two days after the security forces backed by some 6,000 Shiite militia and Iraqi aircraft freed the town of Jurf al-Sakhar and seven nearby areas, including al-Farsiyah, which stretch to the northwest desert leading to the battle-field town of Ameriyat al-Fallujah, some 40 km west of Baghdad.

Observers see the advance toward Ameriyat al-Fallujah as a significant success to the Iraqi forces in their efforts to push back IS militants.

Ameriyat al-Fallujah, located some 60 km north of the Shiite holy city of Karbala, is the last major town ahead of Baghdad that is under government control.

If the militants seize Ameriyat al-Fallujah they will be closer to the Iraqi capital and will also be able to move closer to Karbala, some 108 km south of Baghdad, and pound them with artillery and mortars. Enditem