Eight killed in attack claimed by IS near Iraqi holy city

Eight people were killed on Sunday in a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State group which targeted a security checkpoint near a holy Shia city in Iraq, police said.Attackers opened fire at the checkpoint in the district of Qadisyia, south of Najaf, before two suicide bombers detonated explosive belts, police sources told DPA.The fatalities included five policemen and three civilians, they added.At least 16 others were injured in the attack, which came just one day after a similar bombing in the capital Baghdad.Three other assailants were killed in an exchange of fire with security personnel, police said.Around 180 kilometres south of the capital Baghdad, Najaf is sacred for Shias.Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement. The group saidthe attack had targeted a security checkpoint and a crowd of Shias. The statement could not be verified by DPA.On Saturday, 24 people were killed at a busy market in Baghdad in a twin suicide bombing also claimed by Islamic State.In recent weeks, Islamic State has stepped up its counterattacks in different parts of Iraq as government forces, backed by a US-led air alliance, press ahead with a campaign to dislodge the Al-Qaeda splinter group from its key stronghold of Mosul.Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, has been under Islamic State control since mid-2014.