Suicide bomber kills 26 in huge football stadium bomb blast

A SUCIDE bomber who blew himself up in a major football stadium has killed 26 people and wounded 71, security officials have said.

BLAST: 26 people have been killed in a football stadium

The bombing took place during a match in the city of Iskanderiyah, near Baghdad, Iraq.

ISIS has claimed responsibilty for the attack, according to their afiliated news agency Amaq.

The bomber is said to have struck as players took part in a trophy presentation at the end of the game.

The group, otherwise known as Daesh, has been waging a campaign of suicide bombings in and around the capital as Iraqi forces and their allies battle the militants in the north and west of the country.

The news comes just hours after U.S. officials confirmed Haji Imam, second in command of the death cult, had been taken out in an airstrike over Syria. 

Iskandariya is a mixed Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim town 25 miles south of the capital.

The local was among the dead, along with an undetermined number of militia members, the police said.

The news comes just days after terror attacks in Brussels killed 31 people — and one British victim has now been confirmed.

The Belgian capital, home of the EU, was brought to its knees by ISIS suicide bomb attacks at an airport and on the city's underground network.

Shots were fired and Arabic shouted before two large blasts at Zaventem Airport.

ISIS have vowed "black days" are ahead for the Westafter claiming responsibility for Brussels attacks.

The death cult says Belgium was targeted as "a country participating in the international coalition against the Islamic State".

But the evil empire in Syria and Iraq could soon be overas government forces close in on key strongholds.