Eight killed, injured in bombing near girls' school in Iraq’s Diyala

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – At least one person was killed and seven wounded following an explosion near a girls’ school in the province of Diyala, a security source said on Tuesday.

An unidentified gunmen detonated a bomb inside a shop in the center of a local market in the embattled city of Baqubah, killing at least one and wounding seven more, the source told Kurdistan 24.

There were no reports of injuries at the girls’ school, located just beside the site of the blast.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the incident, but the Islamic State (IS) have, over the past few months, carried out similar attacks in Diyala and other parts of Iraq.

On May 12, while Iraq's national elections were taking place, security sources and witnesses told Kurdistan 24 that multiple mortars struck near the village of Mukhisa, 15 km east of Baqubah, as voting was taking place there, wounding security forces.

Earlier in the month, a member of the Diyala Provincial Council told the media that there were over 1,500 IS extremists spreading across the province and participating in terrorist activities, moving freely through areas like Baqubah.

Although Iraq declared a “final victory” over the extremist group at the time, IS continues to carry out bombings, ambushes, kidnappings, and other attacks on a regular basis.

Editing by John J. Catherine