Baghdad suicide bombing kills Shiite MP

A suicide bombing that left at least 21 people dead Tuesday in Baghdad killed an Iraqi MP and prominent militia leader, officials said.

Ahmed al-Khafaji, a commander in the Shiite Badr militia, was among the victims of the attack in the Kadhimiyah neighborhood, a fellow lawmaker and a medical official said.

Several policemen were among the dead and the blast also left at least 23 people wounded, a health ministry official and a hospital source said.

On Monday, at least 43 people were killed in three attacks in Baghdad, including one on the edge of Kadhimiyah, which was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group.

The jihadist organization also claimed responsibility for another of the three attacks, saying one of its Saudi followers detonated a suicide car bomb packed with 650 kilograms of explosives in the Sadr City neighborhood.

Kadhimiyah was already one of two areas targeted in double bombings that left more than 40 dead on Saturday.

The United Nations said more than 1,110 people were killed in acts of violence across Iraq in September. According to an AFP count, more than 350 have already been killed this month.

While the bloodshed has been mainly on the frontlines where federal, Kurdish and allied forces are battling ISIS, blasts and executions in Baghdad continue to take a heavy toll.

While most of the major suicide bombings in Baghdad are ascribed to ISIS, some of the smaller bomb attacks and assassinations are carried out by other more marginal Sunni groups and by Shiite militias.