Car bomb in Iraq’s Saladin leaves 5 dead: Local sources

By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD

Five people were killed when a car bomb went off in Iraq’s Saladin province north of Baghdad on Wednesday, according to a local medical source.

“The blast killed five people and injured another 32, most of whom sustained minor injuries and have since left the hospital after receiving treatment,” a local medical source told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media.

In an earlier statement, Police First Lieutenant Numan al-Jabouri told Anadolu Agency that the bomb had gone off outside a restaurant on the road linking Saladin’s city of Baiji to provincial capital Tikrit.

The police officer went on to say that remnants of the Daesh terrorist group -- which overran much of Iraq in 2014 before being crushed by the army last year -- were likely behind Wednesday’s car-bomb attack.

Recent months have seen frequent attacks on security personnel deployed in northern and eastern Iraq, especially in the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk and Saladin.

Last year, Iraqi officials declared that Daesh's military presence in the country had been all but destroyed following a three-year conflict with the army.

Nevertheless, Iraqi security forces continue to carry out frequent operations aimed at eliminating the group’s lingering presence in certain parts of the country.