Woman suicide bomber kills at least 30 in Iraqi market

By Reuters - Jun 11,2017 - Last updated at Jun 11,2017

Iraqi security forces gather at the site of a bomb attack in the city of Kerbala, Iraq, on Saturday (Reuters photo)

HILLA, Iraq — A woman suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and wounded 35 in a crowded market in the town of Musayab, 80km south of Baghdad, on Friday, security sources said.

The Daesh terror group claimed the attack, 30km east of the Shiite holy city of Kerbala, as well as a suicide attack at a bus station in central Kerbala around the same time. It did not identify either bomber, in a statement on its Amaq news agency.

Security sources said four people were wounded in the Kerbala bombing, and one security officer said the bomber was also a woman and had hidden the bomb under her full-body veil.

The extremists are on the brink of losing Mosul, their de-facto capital in Iraq, to a US-backed Iraqi offensive launched in October.

The group is also on the backfoot in neighbouring Syria, retreating in the face of a US-backed, Kurdish-led military coalition attacking Raqqa, its capital there.

Iranian-backed paramilitaries are taking part in the campaign against the extremist group in Iraq, attacking the group in the border region near Syria.

Daesh declared a self-styled "caliphate" over parts of Syria and Iraq three years ago.

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