A suicide bomber detonated a pick-up truck packed with explosives in northern Baghdad on Wednesday, dead at least 18 people, according to Iraqi officials.
Security sources said on Wednesday that 50 people were also injured in the car bombing that rocked the heavily populated poor suburb of the Iraqi capital.
The attack comes a day after a similar car bomb explosion killed 18 people in al-Sana'ei neighborhood of al-Baya' district, located southwest of Baghdad. Over a dozen others were injured in the attack on Tuesday.
Baghdad and other major cities in Iraq have seen recurrent terrorist attacks since the Iraqi army and allied fighters began a military operation against the Daesh terrorist group in the northern city of Mosul late last year.
The government says Daesh is desperately seeking to compensate the losses it has suffered on the battlefield.
The Iraqi military and allies have managed to liberate the entire eastern neighborhoods of Mosul and the battle continues to retake the remaining parts of the city on the western edge of the Tigris River.
Iraq began the anti-Daesh drive in 2014, when the Daesh group seized control of areas in the west and north of the country. The military launched sweeping operations to purge the militants from major cities including Tikrit in the north and Ramadi and Fallujah in the west. The recapture of Mosul would put an end to Daesh's grip on major urban areas in Iraq.
