At least 14 people have lost their lives after a suspected Daesh terrorist detonated his explosive vest in a refugee camp in Iraq's western province of Anbar, officials say.
According to Security Advisor to the President of Anbar Provincial Council Hossein Kesar, the incident occurred at the entrance of the camp, which is located some 60 kilometers west of provincial capital of Ramadi, on Sunday afternoon.
He was further quoted by Iraq's Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network as saying that a police captain was among the dead, adding that most of the victims were women and children.
The blast also inflicted injuries to at least 13 other people, mostly women and children, he noted.
Kesar also stated that security forces had already cordoned off the blast site as ambulances rushed to the area to take the wounded to the nearest medical center and transport the dead to a forensic medicine facility.
The terrorist attack occurred on the same day as Iraqi forces announced that they were ready to celebrate the total liberation of Mosul, Daesh's de facto capital in the Arab country, which fell to the terror group in June 2014.
The recapture of Mosul, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, would mark the effective end of Daesh in Iraq.
The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the western part of the city on February 19. Iraqi authorities expect the battle to end soon as the remaining Daesh elements are bottled up in a few districts of the Old City.
An estimated 862,000 people have been displaced from Mosul ever since the battle to retake the city began nine months ago. A total of 195,000 civilians have also returned, mainly to the liberated areas of eastern Mosul.