Explosion rocks town in Mosul, kills 5, wounds 8: Iraqi security
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – At least five people were killed on Sunday when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated at a local market in a town near Iraq’s Mosul.
According to Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, the incident occurred when the IED exploded at a popular market in the sub-district of Rabia, Nineveh governorate, close to the Syrian border.
The attack targeted the Awenat market in Rabia, a town in northwestern Iraq, leaving five people dead and at least eight more injured.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Hassan Khalo, a representative for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Zummar, said the explosion comes at a time when the self-proclaimed Islamic State has increased its activity in the sub-districts of Zummar and Rabia.
“Just yesterday, the terrorist group killed a young man in the area in a sudden attack,” Khalo told local media.
After Mosul – the second largest city in Iraq – fell into the hands of the terror group, the Islamic State began to slaughter thousands of civilians, including minority groups such as the Yezidi’s and Christians.
Despite over a year since Baghdad declared a final victory over the Islamic State, the group continues to conduct attacks in areas it once controlled, embarking on a wave of kidnappings, assassinations, and bombings that have raised fears of a new stage of heightened insurgency.
Iraqi officials continue to call for a solution, as the security vacuum created after the fall of the Islamic State still exists in many areas it once controlled.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany