IS Claims Responsibility for Baghdad Bomb That Kills Four

Baghdad: The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a bombing that targeted a police station in Baghdad's centre, and Iraqi officials said the blast killed four people and wounded eight.

But Saad Mann, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry and Baghdad Operations Command, told the Associated Press that only three were killed in the bombing. He said all those killed were policemen and did not offer any information as to the number of injured.

The differing accounts could not be immediately reconciled. The explosion targeted an entrance to the traffic police station in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood. Moments after the attack the burning shell of a car could be seen sending up a plume of thick black smoke as police fired into the air to disperse a small crowd.

IS has carried out similar attacks targeting Iraqi security forces in the past. Iraqi and coalition officials have warned that as IS loses ground in Iraq the group will increasingly return to its insurgent roots.