Kirkuk village roadside explosion leaves one dead, three injured

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A roadside bomb exploded in a village southwest of Kirkuk province on Sunday, killing one person and injuring three others.

The explosive device was placed on a dirt road near al-Hawaiji village in Kirkuk’s Hawija district; the casualties were from two families from the said village, the police directorate of Hawija confirmed to Kurdistan 24.

Two of the injured were children while the one killed was a woman, media reports quoting security sources said.

Though it is yet unknown to whom the device belonged, the Islamic State has previously used such explosives as a retreat tactic.

The extremist group is known to be active in these areas, which have been reported to have a weak security apparatus.

Earlier in January, the US-led anti-ISIS coalition killed three “terrorists” in an airstrike, a security source told Kurdistan 24 then.

After weeks of fighting in Hawija and surrounding areas, Iraqi forces announced the liberation of the region from the Islamic State in October 2017.

However, since then, the militant group continues to launch insurgency attacks in the area, with Kurdish officials repeatedly warning of the group’s possible resurgence, similar to the pre-Mosul occupation in 2014.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany