Four killed in Baghdad car bombing near Shiite HQ

A car bomb blast near the Baghdad headquarters of a Shiite militia fighting the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq killed at least four civilians on Tuesday, police said.

A police colonel told AFP that 13 other people were wounded in the explosion near the headquarters of Kataeb Imam Ali in the Karrada area of central Baghdad.

The bomb went off in front of the Royal Hotel, less than 500 metres (yards) away, leaving the headquarters untouched but damaging cars and the hotel lobby, an AFP photographer said.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack in a statement on jihadist forums, saying it detonated a car bomb in front of a hotel "where Iranian militia assemble".

Another car bombing claimed by IS killed 15 people outside a popular restaurant in Karrada on Saturday.