U.S. denounces terrorist attacks in Iraq

The United States on Wednesday condemned what it called "continued" terrorist attacks in Iraq, promising joint efforts to end the "terrorist scourge."

State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke cited suicide car bomb attacks that took place Wednesday in Iraq's southern city of Basrah and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan region, largely safe over the years since the U.S. -led invasion to Iraq in 2003, saw a provincial government building in the city of Arbil hit by a car bomb with four people killed and 27 others injured.

Rathke blamed the Islamic State for the attacks, saying the extremist group will continue to "resort to cowardly attacks of killing civilians and other desperate measures" as it is losing territory in the face of continuing counterattacks by the Iraqi and Kurdish forces under the cover of U.S.-led air raids.

"The United States is committed to working with the government of Iraq and our coalition partners to end this terrorist scourge," he said in a statement. Enditem