WATCH: Car bomb rocks Iraq’s Talafar popular market, casualties reported

Over a dozen people were killed and wounded on Tuesday when a car bomb detonated in a popular Iraqi market in the center of Talafar town, security said.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Over a dozen people were killed and wounded on Tuesday when a car bomb detonated in a popular Iraqi market in the center of Talafar town, security said.

The explosion took place in the Ras al-Jadah area of the town, 60 kilometers west of Mosul, which is home to a majority Sunni and Shia Turkmen population.

The blast occurred near shops in a popular market that killed two and wounded 11 more people, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The death toll might rise as some of the injured people are in critical condition, a health source in Talafar told Kurdistan 24.

The Islamic State (IS) later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The assault is one of the first major ones in the province of Nineveh since the federal government announced victory against the extremist group last year.

Although Iraq declared victory against IS in December 2017, the group continues to carry out insurgency attacks, explosions, kidnappings, and ambushes across different provinces, namely the disputed territories located in the north of the country.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany