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Multiple deadly bombings rip through Iraqi cities

Sunday, 06 November 2016 8:26 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 06 November 2016 1:12 PM ]

The aftermath of a bombing in the north-central Iraq province of Salahuddin’s capital of Tikrit as seen on November 6, 2016

Nearly two dozen people have been killed in a string of attacks that rocked Iraq’s northern Salahuddin province as well as the capital, Baghdad, security sources say.

On Sunday, a bomber set off his explosives at a checkpoint in the south of the city of Tikrit, Salahuddin’s provincial capital, the Arabic-language al-Sumaria TV network reported.

Some reports said the attacker had been riding a bomb-laced ambulance during the morning rush hour and that Iraqi forces had imposed a curfew in the area after the incident.

Meanwhile, another car bomb went off at a car park for Shia pilgrims visiting al-Askari Mosque in the vicinity of a hospital in the province’s city of Samarra, located some 50 kilometers south of Tikrit, Kurdish-language NRT News television said.

The aftermath of a bombing in the north-central Iraq province of Salahuddin’s city of Samarra as seen on November 6, 2016

At least 21 people were killed in the two explosions.

Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said there were 10 Iranian pilgrims among the victims in Samarra, which is home to the holy shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi (PBUH), the tenth Shia Imam.

Separately, two booby traps went off in two neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital, killing three people and injuring 13 others.

‘Terrorists struggling to live on’

Following the Iran’s Foreign Ministry roundly condemned the deadly bomb attacks in Iraq.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi offered condolences to the families of the victims, calling on the international community to shoulder its responsibility in stopping the spread of terror threats.

He said the “brutal act of terror” is due to the failure of terror groups in pursuit of their “sinister goals” in Iraq, saying the Islamic Republic “will stand by the Iraqi nation and government until the total defeat of terrorism” across the Arab country.

The new wave of terror attacks comes amid a surge in terror activities by Daesh, which has been taking severe blows from Iraqi forces in the areas under its control.

The Iraqi army and allied forces have launched an ultimate push to retake the northern city of Mosul, the last stronghold of the Takfiri Daesh terror group.

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