Suicide bomber in Baghdad causes 19 casualties

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Four people were killed and 15 wounded late Wednesday night in the Iraqi capital, according to initial reports. After the incident, a team of Iraqi security forces arrived at the site and began an investigation to discover more about the events leading up to the explosion and those who might be responsible.

The location of the attack was a neighborhood with a high majority of Shia Muslim residents known as al-Shu’la, located in northwestern Baghdad. 

An unidentified male was reported to have detonated an explosive vest he was wearing after being surrounded by security forces at the entrance of Saqlawiyah Park, resulting in the death and injury of ”some civilians,” as a statement released by the National Security’s media office explained.

No terrorist organization so far has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is consistent with tactics used by Islamic State (IS), according to Reuters.

Iraq’s military campaign against IS ended in December, when Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared victory over the organization and claimed to have taken ‘complete control’ of the Iraqi-Syrian border.

The organization, however, still carries out small operations across Iraq, with a greater concentration taking place in the nation's disputed territories.

On Tuesday, IS fighters kidnapped and executed a village chieftain in a village southwest of Kirkuk, accusing him of having cooperated with Iraqi security forces in the area. 

The security situation in the province has been tense since the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga following a military takeover of disputed territories by Iraqi forces and Iran-backed militias in response to the Kurdistan Region's September independence referendum.

Editing by John J. Catherine