18 killed in twin suicide car attacks in south of Iraq's Baghdad

Up to 18 people were killed and some 20 others wounded in two suicide car bombs targeting the Iraqi police in south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on Saturday.

The attacks occurred late on Friday night when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a police checkpoint and detonated it in the Shiite neighborhood of Abu Dsheer, in southern Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, another suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at the entrance of a police station, located at the vicinity of the first blast in the same neighborhood, causing heavy damage to the building, the source said.

The two attacks killed a total of 18 people and wounding some 20 others, the source said, adding that many of them were policemen.

The twin suicide bomb attacks in Baghdad followed another such crime before the sunset near Iraq's southern oil-hub city of Basra, which hit security checkpoints on a road leading to the oilfield of Rumaila, leaving up to 13 people killed and some 30 others wounded, including security members, according to the Interior Ministry source.

Late on Friday, a police source reportedly told Xinhua that at least three security members were killed and others wounded by the two blasts.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for such suicide attacks targeting the security forces and crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

The attacks came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from their major stronghold in the western side of Mosul in northern Iraq.