Explosions target liquor store, neighborhood in disputed Iraqi city

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two explosions on Wednesday injured multiple individuals the city of Tuz Khurmatu, on the eastern end of Salahuddin province and the strategic road linking Baghdad and Kirkuk, sources said.

The sources told Kurdistan 24 the first attacks occurred late Wednesday, using an improvised explosive device (IED) and targeting a liquor store in the ‘Hai al-Shourti neighborhood, which lies in the center of the multi-ethnic town, part of areas disputed between Baghdad and Erbil.

Shops selling alcohol are rare in the predominantly conservative city made up of Turkmen, Arabs, Kurds, Shias, and Sunnis.

The second blast occurred on the same day in the Hai al-Tin neighborhood of Tuz Khurmatu. The sources could not confirm the exact number of casualties from the two incidents.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility by any group, but it is consistent with attacks previously conducted in and around Kirkuk in recent years by Islamic State (IS) militants.

Early November, a car bomb detonated in Salahuddin, this time near a town north of the provincial capital of Tikrit, injuring several people.

Since the Oct. 16 military takeover of the disputed province by Iraqi forces and Shia militias in response to the Kurdistan Region’s controversial independence referendum, Kirkuk has been witnessing increasing attacks, car bombs, kidnappings, and ambushes by armed groups.

Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga fighters from the Kurdistan Region, backed by strikes by the US-led anti-IS coalition, continue to carry out operations in areas suspected to be used as hideouts by the terrorist organization’s sleeper cells.

Editing by Nadia Riva