Suicide bombings kill at least 20 Iraqi soldiers: Sources

Suicide bombings against Iraqi forces have killed at least 20 people, and wounded 60 others, officials said. 

One bomber targeted a joint police and army checkpoint in north Baghdad, while two others struck pro-government paramilitaries on a street in Mishahada, north of the capital, and in a restaurant in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State group frequently carries out suicide bombings in Iraq targeting civilians and security forces.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground with the assistance of US-led air strikes and training.

Ramadi and areas around the city were recaptured from IS in recent months. An offensive to retake Iraq's second city of Mosul has often been declared as imminent but has yet to start.

Last week, following pressure from followers of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi presented a new cabinet aimed at appeasing public concern over corruption.

Systemic corruption has been pointed to as a major reason for the ability of IS to overrun large swathes of the country, with the Iraqi military heavily under-funded and their ranks swelled by tens of thousands of "ghost soldiers".