News / Iraq

Car bomb attack kills 3, injures dozen in northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar

Tuesday, 25 December 2018 1:59 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 25 December 2018 5:13 PM ]

This picture shows the aftermath of a car bomb explosion in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar on December 25, 2018. (Photo via Twitter)

At least three people have been killed and a dozen others sustained injuries when a bomb explosion ripped through a marketplace in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language Baghdad Today news website that a car laden with explosives went off at Ras Al-Jadah marketplace in the city of Tal Afar, situated about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Mosul, on Tuesday.

The source added that the blast left three people dead and 12 others injured.

This picture shows the aftermath of a car bomb explosion in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar on December 25, 2018. (Photo via Twitter)

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but it bears the hallmark of such attacks carried out by the Daesh Takfiri terror group against Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters in the area.

On August 31, 2017, former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi said the city of Tal Afar and the entire Nineveh province had been purged of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

The recapture of Tal Afar was made possible with the help of Iraqi army soldiers, Federal Police Force, Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units – commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi and the Interior Ministry's elite rapid response forces, Abadi said.

Daesh terrorists kidnap 19 civilians in Iraq’s Kirkuk

Separately, remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have abducted 19 civilians in Iraq’s oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk.

Federal police spokesman Hussein Majed said Daesh terrorists raided the town of Mabdad, south of Kirkuk, on Tuesday and kidnapped 13 civilians.

He said two people were also kidnapped in the town of Debaa al-Jadeeda.

PressTV-Iraqi jets strike Daesh redoubts in Syria’s Dayr al-Zawr

Iraqi Air Force fighter jets have killed 44 Daesh Takfiri terrorists and destroyed their hideouts in Syria’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

Daesh militants raided the village of Bara Bara in the same province as well, and abducted four other civilians.

Iraqi security forces have launched manhunts to arrest the abductors.

On July 2017, Abadi, formally declared victory over Daesh in Mosul, which served as the terrorists’ main urban stronghold in Iraq.

In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks. After three years of struggle, Baghdad finally declared the end of military operations against Daesh on December 9, 2017.

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