A suicide bomber on Monday killed 19 people near a prison gate in Iraq near Baghdad, media reports say.
The bomber packed a car with explosives before slamming the vehicle into the gate in the town of Taji, located around 12 miles north of the capital, reported Reuters.
“Today was the day for the prisoners to meet their families. ... At the entrance, there was a minibus driven by a suicide bomber,” a local security guard told the news agency. “It entered from the first checkpoint and before the police finished their search this guy drove quickly inside the base and blew it up.”
Reports say that at least 22 people were injured during the attack.
Monday’s suicide bombing marks the third attack in the past five days. Over the weekend, at least 15 people were killed during several linked bomb explosions in Baghdad.
On Thursday, a series of bomb blasts rocked the city of Basra, leaving 19 dead and scores more injured.
The violence comes just a month ahead of the U.S. deadline to pull all of its combat troops out of the country.
“We have information that terrorist groups are planning to intensify their activities, and they are mobilizing all their capabilities to increase attacks for the rest of the year,” Qassim al-Moussawi, a Baghdad military spokesman, told The Associated Press.
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