Explosion in Diyala kills parents, injures children

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A family has been torn apart with the death of parents and injury to children after a fifth explosion of the sort in a week in the northern part of Iraq’s Diyala Province, Kurdistan 24’s Harem Jaff reported from Khanaqin on Sunday.

“A roadside bomb exploded under a car [with a family in it] killing the parents, and injuring their three children,” a security source from Diyala Province’s Khanaqin district told Kurdistan 24 on condition of anonymity.

“One of the children’s condition is currently unstable,” Jaff said.

“The family was driving back to their village because they had built a new house there,” the security source explained.

On Wednesday, another married couple lost their lives to a roadside explosion while on their way to their village. Another bomb ripped through a police car injuring officers who were rushing to the scene of the first blast.

There are growing security concerns among Diyala’s local population with some beginning to pack after their fellow villagers warded off an attack by the so-called Islamic State (IS).

Diyala is among the contested territories between the central government and the Kurdistan Region and was previously under the protection of Peshmerga forces since 2014 after they cleared it of the extremist group.

On Oct. 16, in retaliation to the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum, Iraqi security with the support of Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi forces pushed the Peshmerga to withdraw from the region, which locals blame for the instability and resurgence of IS.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany