Four killed, 9 injured in car bomb explosion in Baghdad

Baghdad: The Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Saturday killed at least four people and nine others injured in a car bomb explosion, a government statement said.

The incident took place on when the Iraqi security forces and allied US-led coalition forces are carrying out a major offensive to dislodge IS group from its stronghold of Mosul.

On Saturday afternoon when a booby-trapped car detonated at a crowded area near a government building in the central district of Shawaka, Xinhua news agency cited the statement of the Baghdad Operations Command.

The blast destroyed many civilian cars and caused damages to several buildings in the vicinity, said police source.

So far no Islamic organisation has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Islamic state militants have carried out a series of counter-attacks by suicide bombers and car bombings in different parts of Iraq since the Mosul offensive started in mid-October.

The city has been under Islamic sate control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.