Separate blasts in Iraq's disputed territories kill 1, wound 4
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – One person was killed and four others were wounded in separate explosions in areas disputed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government of Iraq.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the incidents, but the areas where they were carried out have seen multiple similar attacks claimed by the Islamic State.
The first blast occurred late Thursday, killing one policeman and wounding another in Kirkuk province's southwestern district of Hawija, a security source said. The officers were traveling in a police vehicle, patrolling the village of Gharib in Hawija's Abbasi subdistrict, previously a major Islamic State stronghold for years.
The source said that a senior police commander was in the vehicle at the time and that the policeman killed was one of his bodyguards.
It was the latest of several recent attacks in southwest Kirkuk, many of which targeted local security forces. The Islamic State has announced it was responsible for most of them.
In the second incident, three farmers were wounded in a blast early Friday when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off under a tractor in the disputed district of Jalawla, located in Diyala Province. Another security source said that one of the farmers was seriously injured and that all three had been taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
The bombing took place in the village of Umm al-Hanta, an area that in the past few years has seen many acts of violence including bombings which wounded multiple civilians.
On Monday, at least ten people were reported injured in a series of explosions that rocked the capital of Baghdad.
Read More: At least 10 wounded in series of bombings in Iraqi capital: reports
“Two explosive devices that were placed on the side of the road in the Hal al-Alam and al-Shurta al-Rabi’a neighborhoods blew up today, injuring five civilians,” a security source told local media.
Another media outlet reported that only four had been wounded but claimed there was another explosion in the al-Sha’b neighborhood that injured one.
The Germany Ministry of Defence told Kurdistan 24 on Friday that it had approved an extension to its mission to train forces in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region by one year.
Read More: German ministry extends mission to train Iraqi troops, Peshmerga
Officials and soldiers from Germany’s unified military forces and administration, known as the Bundeswehr, will now remain and continue their training mission until October 2020.
According to a ministry spokesperson, the goal of the extended mission is to prevent the “resurgence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”
Editing by John J. Catherine