Suicide car bomb targets wedding in Fallujah, kills 17

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A suicide car bomb on Thursday evening targeted a wedding party in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, killing 17 and wounding many more people, security sources said.

The Head of the Amiriyah Fallujah Council, Shaker Mahmoud, told Iraqi TV a suicide car bomber drove a vehicle laden with explosives into a wedding party in the city of Amiriyah, 30 kilometers south of the Fallujah district, killing and injuring several people.

According to security and medical sources, 17 people had been killed, and over 30 more were injured. Security persons were also among the casualties.

Following the explosion, ambulances rushed to the scene and transferred the victims to nearby hospitals in the area.

Moreover, the blast was considered the second attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) in the area in the past days.

On Monday, two suicide bombers killed over six people, and injured many others in the district of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

Iraqi security forces fully liberated Fallujah from IS in June 2016, following a month of heavy clashes in the area.

Since the emergence of the extremist group in northern Mosul, many Sunni Arabs in Iraq have taken up arms and fought against the insurgents in different parts of the country.

On Oct. 17, Iraqi and Peshmerga forces launched a military offensive to liberate Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq controlled by IS since June 2014.

The forces have successfully liberated several areas and continue their advance toward the city center where the operation is ongoing.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany