Twin car bombs tear through Baghdad

  • 09/06/2016
People gather at the site of car bomb attack in Baghdad (Reuters)
People gather at the site of car bomb attack in Baghdad (Reuters)

More than 22 people have been killed and 70 wounded in two separate bombings in Baghdad, one targeting a commercial street and the other an army checkpoint, Iraqi police said.

One of the blasts was located near Camp Taji, where New Zealand and Australian troops are stationed, however all Kiwi personnel are safe.

The attacks come as Iraqi forces are trying to dislodge Islamic State militants from Fallujah, their stronghold just west of Baghdad.

A car packed with explosives blew up in a commercial street of Baghdad al-Jadeeda (New Baghdad), an eastern district of the capital, killing at least 15 people and wounding over 50, a police officer said.

A suicide car bomb also targeted a main army checkpoint in Taji, just north of Baghdad, killing seven soldiers and wounding more than 20 others, he said.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee says the Taji blast was around two to three kilometres away from where troops from New Zealand and Australia are.

No New Zealand troops were injured in the blast.

"Appropriate security measures are in place at Taji to protect our soldiers from a range of risks, and these are constantly reviewed and updated to reflect the threat environment," Mr Brownlee says.

"Our troops know they are in a volatile place, but they are inside a well-secured perimeter at Taji, and they take the steps necessary to ensure they can safely continue to train the Iraqi Security Forces to rid Iraq of D'aesh [another name for Islamic State]."

Reuters / Newshub.