Suicide bombers target electricity station in northern Baghdad, casualties reported

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A group of suicide bombers on Saturday blew themselves up in an energy station in northern Baghdad, killing and wounding 18 people.

The suicide bombers were wearing explosive vests and targeted an electricity station in Samarra city in Salahuddin Province, some 100 kilometers north of Baghdad, according to a statement from the Iraqi Electricity Ministry.

The Ministry’s report revealed that the explosion had killed six employees at the station. The attack also injured 12 people, according to security sources.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility, but the attack is similar to previous suicide bombings carried out by the Islamic State (IS).

It is the latest extremist attack in the country following the group’s defeat in its stronghold of Mosul city and Tal Afar town at the hands of Iraqi forces backed by the US-led coalition.

There were four suicide bombers at the energy station where one was killed before the others snuck into the fuel tank and processing unit area where they blew themselves up, the Electricity Ministry stated.

The city contains two prominent mausoleums of Shia Muslim clerics which were bombed in 2006.

As the militant group continues to experience losses in northern Iraq, its members often carry out suicide attacks in the southern parts of the country, mainly in the capital Baghdad.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany