Suicide bomber kills four at checkpoint near Baghdad

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a checkpoint near Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least four people, security and medical officials said.

The bombing at a checkpoint leading to the Husseiniyah area, northeast of the capital, the latest in a series of deadly attacks in the capital, also wounded 21 people, the officials said.

The attack comes after the country's Interior Minister Mohammed Ghabban resigned last week in the wake of the deadliest attack in the country since the 2003 US-led invasion, saying that Baghdad checkpoints, a pillar of government efforts to secure the city, are "absolutely useless".

The latest spate of attacks began with the most deadly on 3 July when a detonated bomb killed 292 people in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood, a busy shopping district.

A few days later, militants attacked a Shia shrine in Balad, north of Baghdad, killing 40 people, and on Tuesday, a suicide bomber struck a market near the capital, killing at least seven people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Wednesday, but the Islamic State (IS) group frequently carries out suicide bombings targeting civilians.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but has since lost significant ground to Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes, training and other assistance.

IS has responded to the battlefield setbacks by striking civilians, particularly Shias, and experts have warned there may be more bombings as the group continues to lose ground.