A suicide bomber has detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a checkpoint 20km south of Baghdad, killing at least 11 people, including seven soldiers, and wounding at least 25, Iraqi interior ministry has said.

There was no immediate claim for the attack that targetted security forces in Yusufiyah on Saturday, which also wounded 23 people.

Security forces and allied Shia militiamen are battling fighters in several areas south of the capital, the southern front in the fight to regain ground lost to an Islamic State-led offensive that overran large areas of Iraq in June.

While the rebels' relentless advance has since been checked, Iraqi forces are struggling to push them back, and there is no resolution to the crisis in sight.

Al Jazeera