Iraq: Deadly car bomb hits market near Mosul

At least six people have been killed and 30 others wounded in a car bomb blast south of Mosul, police and medical sources said.

A vehicle packed with explosives was parked near a restaurant and a crowded market area in the northern Iraqi town of Qayyara, police said on Tuesday.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Iraq’s top military commander in Mosul Major-General Najim al-Jabouri accused ISIL of carrying out the Qayyara attack.

“We are positive the car bomb attack was carried out by Daesh terrorists and we will bring them to justice,” Jabouri said, using a derogatory name for ISIL.

An interior ministry spokesman said the blast was a result of a “terrorist attack by a car bomb”.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in December, dislodging the group from all territories it held after its self-proclaimed caliphate, which also composed part of Syria, collapsed earlier in 2017.

The group’s fighters have since waged a campaign of kidnapping, killing and bomb attacks targeting civilians and security forces.