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Islamic State
claimed the attack in the town of Musayab, south of Baghdad, in
a statement on its Amaq news agency. It didn't identify the
bomber.
A security officer said the assailant was a woman who hid the
bomb under the customary full-body veil.
The attack comes as Islamic State is about to lose Mosul, the
de-facto capital of the hardline Sunni Muslim group in Iraq, to
a U.S.-backed Iraqi offensive launched in October.
The group is also on the backfoot in neighboring Syria,
retreating in the face of a U.S.-backed Kurdish-led coalition
attacking its capital there, Raqqa,.
Iranian-backed paramilitaries are taking part in the campaign
fighting Islamic State in Iraq, attacking the group in the
border region near Syria.
Islamic State declared a self-styled "caliphate" over parts of
Syria and Iraq three years ago.
(Adds dropped word 'identify' in paragraph 2.)
(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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