Explosion rocks Mosul, killing teenage girl and security officer

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A car bomb exploded in the embattled Iraqi city of Mosul late Friday, with initial casualty reports indicating at least two deaths and ten injuries.

The incident occurred in the "al-Muthana neighborhood of the left bank of the city of Mosul," a statement by the Security Media Cell said.

The explosion, according to security sources quoted by Iraqi media, targetted a "vehicle of the director of national security in Nineveh Province, Colonel Hisham al-Najm."

The source added that Najm's family were passengers in the vehicle at the time.

Medical sources said that two people were killed in the attack, a member of the security forces and a thirteen-year-old girl. Ten others, civilians and security personnel, were reportedly injured as well.

This marks the second such incident in the city since the end of February when an explosive-laden vehicle blew up near Mosul University, killing two people and wounding 24 others, according to Reuters.

Although no group has yet taken responsibility for the attack, Iraqi security personnel have often blamed members of the Islamic State for similar attacks. The jihadi group took control of Mosul in 2014 and held it as its de facto capital in Iraq for over two years.

Despite Baghdad declaring a “final victory” against the terrorist organization in December 2017, the Islamic State continues to carry out sporadic attacks, including bombings, assassinations, and kidnappings, in previously liberated areas like Mosul, and even in areas it never controlled such as the capital of Baghdad. 

Editing by John J. Catherine