Baghdad suicide bombing kills at least three

At least three people were killed in a  suicide bomb attack near a security checkpoint in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, a police officer said.

The suicide bomber targeted a checkpoint near Aden Square in northern Baghdad, according to the Baghdad military command.

An officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave an "initial toll of three people killed and 11 wounded" in the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but most such attacks in Iraq are the work of the Islamic State group.

Although such attacks have decreased drastically since, jihadi elements are still active north of Baghdad.

In November, a suicide car bomber killed at least 21 people in an attack on a busy market  in a town north of the capital.

IS seized vast areas of Iraq and Syria in 2014, but multiple offensives in both countries have since cornered it in a pocket of territory stretching from Syria's Deir az-Zour to the Iraqi towns of Rawa and al-Qaim.

But in December, the government announced the "end of the war" against IS, which has been expelled from the Baghdad region and urban areas of Iraq that it controlled.