At least eight people were killed and 12 wounded in a bomb blast at a security checkpoint in Qaim district of Iraq on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Of those dead, five were military personnel and three civilians.

Mayor Ahmed al-Mehlawy said some of those injured are in a critical condition. The attacker drove a car filled with explosives into the checkpoint, which was jointly manned by Iraqi Army and Shiite militias, the mayor added.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack yet, though Islamic State group militants operate in the area.

Qaim is located about 300 kilometres west of Baghdad in the Sunni province of Anbar. The province was one of the last from where the Iraqi Army drove out Islamic State group terrorists in November 2017.