At least 23 people were killed in two suicide bombings
in northern Iraq on Sunday, according to Iraqi
officials.
A bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives at a security
checkpoint in Tikrit city, killing 13 people and injuring 31 others
at the city’s southern entrance, local official Munir Hussein told
Anadolu Agency.
He said a senior police officer was among those killed in the
attack.
Another suicide bombing struck a car park in the city of
Samarra, a holy site for Shia pilgrims.
"At least ten people were killed and 27 others injured in the
attack," captain Saad Mohamed of the Saladin Operations Command
said.
He said a number of Iranian pilgrims were among the
casualties.
Mohamed said security forces have declared a curfew across
Samarra in anticipation of further attacks.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Sunday’s bombings came amid a wide-scale offensive aimed at
ousting the Daesh terrorist group from the northern city of
Mosul.
In mid-2014, Daesh captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city,
before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north
and west.
Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies
on the ground and the U.S.-led air coalition, retake much
territory.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM),
more than 22,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of
the Mosul offensive.