Dozens killed as suicide attack rocks Baghdad

At least 42 people were killed when a suicide bomb ripped through shops in eastern Baghdad on Monday, Iraqi security and medical officials said.

The attack, which struck the Jadida area in Iraq's capital wounded at least 32 others and triggered fires in nearby shops and buildings, a local source told The New Arab.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself, the source confirmed, adding that it was not a car bomb as previously thought.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, however similar suicide bombings in Iraq have been previously attributed to the Islamic State group.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a checkpoint on the northeastern edge of Iraq's capital Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding at least 24.

Another car bomb exploded on the same day near an army patrol in the Dura area of southern Baghdad, killing at least three and wounding at least eight.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led airstrikes have since regained significant ground.

The extremists still control a large part of western Iraq, and are able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas.