PHOTOS: 24 people killed, wounded in bomb blast north of Iraqi capital

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A bomb blast has left at least one person dead and 23 others wounded in the town of Khalis in Diyala Province, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Uday al-Khdran, the Mayor of al-Khalis district, announced on Saturday the death of one person and injury to 23 others due to the explosion which targeted the district’s crowded market.

Military forces, accompanied by ambulances, arrived at the scene of the explosion where they rushed the wounded people to the hospital, security sources said.

Although no one has claimed responsibility for the incident, Iraqi authorities point fingers at Islamic State (IS) sleeper cells which often carry out small-scale attacks, especially in Baghdad, Nineveh, Salahuddin, Kirkuk, and Diyala provinces.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced victory against IS last December after three years of fierce fighting. The extremist organization, however, maintains an insurgency through ambushes, bombings, and kidnappings across the country.

On Friday night, three explosions occurred in Iraq’s oil-rich province of Kirkuk, resulting in one death and over a dozen injuries.

On June 6, an explosion at a mosque in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood left at least 18 killed and over 90 wounded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany