Susannah George, The Associated Press

Besieged Islamic State militants in the Iraqi city of Ramadi destroyed a lock on the Euphrates River that served as a bridge as government forces on Wednesday sought to cement their gains around the militant-held city.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces were preparing to push further into the center of the Islamic State-held city of Ramadi as the Sunni militant group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Baghdad that killed 11 people on Wednesday.

A series of political spats that erupted in Baghdad over the past week surrounding foreign forces on Iraqi soil have exposed the increasing weakness of Iraq’s central governmen

The ousting of Islamic State group forces from the Iraqi town of Sinjar is being touted by Kurdish leaders as a major military victory.

Kurdish forces said Sunday they uncovered two mass graves outside Sinjar, a northern Iraqi town near the Syrian border that was ruled by the Islamic State group for more than a year before the extremists were driven out last week.

SINJAR, Iraq — Dealing a double blow to the Islamic State group, Iraqi Kurdish forces pushed into the key town of Sinjar on Friday as a Syrian rebel coalition captured an IS-held border town in northern Syria.