Explosions kill one, injure 13 in two Iraqi provinces

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – One was killed and over a dozen more injured in two explosions which targeted the Iraqi city of Fallujah and an area near an oil field in Salahuddin Province, security and witnesses told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday.

Although the rate of violence in Iraq has declined since the military defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in late 2017, the jihadist group continues to launch insurgency attacks through sleeper cells operating across several provinces.

In one of the two attacks, a roadside bomb exploded as a minibus carrying oil workers on their way to work in al-Siniya refinery near Baiji city in Salahuddin, killing one and injuring at least 10 others, a security source told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday morning.

In the second explosion, in the western city of Fallujah, a car bomb detonated in the center of the city.

Eyewitnesses told Kurdistan 24 that the blast occurred in the early morning near local banking offices and wounded three people.

The security situation in Fallujah has been fairly stable since Iraqi forces regained control of the former IS stronghold in June 2016.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility by any group for the two incidents.

Editing by John J. Catherine