BAGHDAD — Two suicide attackers targeted Iraqi police checkpoints in commercial areas in central Baghdad during rush hour Thursday, killing at least 21 people, officials said.



Both attacks were carried out by bombers on foot, wearing explosives-laden vests, two police officers said. One bomber struck in Baghdad’s Bab al-Sharji area, killing nine civilians and three police officers there.



Forty-five people were wounded in that explosion. The second bomber hit in Al-Wathba Square, killing nine people, including four policemen, and wounding 31.



Two officials confirmed the casualty figures. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which bore the hallmarks of Daesh (the so-called IS) group, a splinter of Iraq’s Al-Qaeda branch. — AP