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Suicide Attacks Kill 24 in Iraq


Iraqi soldiers stand guard at the site near a suicide attack that targeted a checkpoint manned by Iraqi troops, in Baghdad, Iraq, April 4, 2016.
Iraqi soldiers stand guard at the site near a suicide attack that targeted a checkpoint manned by Iraqi troops, in Baghdad, Iraq, April 4, 2016.

A series of suicide bombings Monday killed at least 24 people and wounded 60 others across Iraq.

Several of the blasts targeted Iraqi troops and paramilitary fighters.

One bombing hit a security checkpoint in a northeastern Baghdad suburb, while another struck pro-government fighters north of the capital in Mashahdeh.

In the south, an attacker also detonated explosives at a restaurant popular with militia fighters in the city of Nassiriyah, and another hit the city of Basra.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Islamic State militants have frequently used suicide bombings against Iraqi security forces.

March was an especially deadly month for Iraqi security forces and pro-government militias with acts of terror and violence killing 544 troops, according to U.N. data.

That was the highest number of deaths since August, and only four months have registered more Iraqi troop deaths since Islamic State militants swept through large areas of northern and western Iraq in mid-2014.

The U.N. said about 1,500 Iraqi civilians were also killed in the first three months of this year with more than 4,300 people injured.

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