Powerful Car Bomb Hits Baghdad Suburb

Police say at least 19 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a powerful car bombing that targeted civilians in a southeastern suburb of Baghdad on April 30.

The Islamic State (IS) extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The explosion occurred on a road in the Nahrawan area used by Shi'ite pilgrims, who go by foot to Baghdad's holy Kadhimiyah shrine for annual commemorations.

An IS online statement and initial reports from local police at the scene said the attack targeted the Shi'ite pilgrims. 

Iraq's Interior Ministry, however, said the bombing targeted Shi'ite civilians shopping in an open-air market selling fruit, vegetables, and meat. 

"It was not a road for people walking toward Kadhimiyah," said Saad Mann, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry and Baghdad Operations Command.

IS militants often claims deadly attacks on Shi'ite neighborhoods and other civilian targets in and around Baghdad.

In a separate incident on April 30, two people were killed and three wounded in a blast near a Shi'ite militia checkpoint in Baghdad's Dora district, police sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for that blast. 

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpa