Attack on Iraq police station claimed by IS kills five

Baghdad: An attack on a police station claimed by the Islamic State group killed five people near Baghdad on Thursday, a day after triple car bombings in the capital killed more than 90.

The assault on the police station in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, which security officials said involved two suicide bombers as well as other attackers, also wounded 14 people.

A police colonel was among the dead, officials said.

IS issued an online statement claiming the attack on Al-Zaidan police station.

It came a day after triple car bombings in Baghdad claimed by the Sunni extremists killed at least 94 people.

The deadliest of the blasts hit a market in the overwhelmingly Shiite Sadr City area of north Baghdad, killing at least 64 people.

Iraq has thousands of security personnel deployed in the capital, but searches at checkpoints are cursory if they take place at all, and fake bomb detectors are still in widespread use.

The security forces have regained significant ground from IS, which overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014.

But the jihadists still control significant territory in western Iraq, and are able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas.