Car bomb kills 5, wounds 15 in Tuz Khurmatu

KIRKUK (K24) - A car bomb attack killed five police officers and wounded at least 15 others, including civilians and members of Hashd Shaabi militia, in Tuz Khurmatu on Saturday. Tuz Khurmatu is a multi-ethnic town of some 60,000 people, 80 kilometers southeast of Kirkuk in Saladin Province of Iraq.

The head of Kurdish Asayish Forces in Tuz Khurmatu, Muqaddam Faruq Muhammad, told a K24 reporter over the phone that the explosion took place in front of the town's police headquarters that is close to a building used by the Badr organization, a Shia militia group stationed in the area.

The K24 reporter said the wounded were transported to hospitals and authorities have started an investigation into the nature of the attack. He said no group has claimed responsibility yet, but Islamic State that is fighting against both the Kurds and the Shia could be a suspect.

Tuz Khurmatu has been a flashpoint of the rising tensions between Kurdish Peshmerga forces and the Shia Hashd Shaabi (the People's Mobilization Units) militia groups. Eleven people, including eight civilians, were killed in fierce clashes between the sides two weeks ago. More than 200 houses and shops were burnt by both sides as civilians were arming themselves amid growing protests and clashes.

Both Kurdish Peshmerga Forces and the Shia militia groups arrived in the area deserted by the Iraqi army last year when its Kurdish and Shia population came under threat by an advancing Islamic State group.

(Hemin Dilo and Soran Kameran contributed to this report from Kirkuk)