There has been a suicide bomb attack near the home of the new Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad.<br /><br />The bomber blew himself up outside the checkpoint that leads to the house on Tuesday. There have been no reports of any casualties.<br /><br />Al-Abadi was brought in to replace Nouri al-Maliki who was seen as divisive. He had only been appointed on Monday but was calling on Iraq’s leaders to stop feuding and unite against Islamic State jihadists.<br /><br />Elsewhere in the city, at least 17 people were killed in two car bombings in Shia areas.<br /><br />One local resident said: “What crime have we committed? They damaged shops and buildings. What is the crime those innocent young boys committed?’‘<br /><br />Meanwhile the United States has authorised sending another 130 soldiers to Iraq to help thousands of members of the Yazidi community trapped on a mountain by the Islamic State jihadists.<br /><br />Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told US marines: “I recommended to the president, and the president has authorised me to go ahead and send about 130 new assessment team members up to northern Iraq, in the Irbil area.”<br /><br />The EU has also given the go-ahead for individual member states to supply weapons to Kurdish forces who are fighting to reclaim territory from the extremists.
