Twin blasts rock Iraq’s Kirkuk, Diyala, killing four

BAGHDAD

Four civilians were killed on Wednesday in two separate bombings in Iraq’s Kirkuk and Diyala provinces, according to local police sources.

“An explosive device planted under a car went off, killing a man -- and his two sisters -- in the Al-Azim subdistrict located 60 kilometers [roughly 38 miles] north of Baqubah, Diyala’s regional capital,” Police Captain Habib al-Shimmari told Anadolu Agency.

Meanwhile, Kirkuk Police Captain Hamed al-Obeidi told Anadolu Agency that another civilian passerby had been killed by a similar bomb blast in Kirkuk’s Al-Dabas district.

No group has claimed responsibility for the twin blasts, but local officials typically blame the Daesh terrorist group for such seemingly random acts of violence.

Last year, officials in Baghdad said Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but destroyed. It appears, however, that the terrorist group still maintains a limited presence in the northern and western parts of the country.

Reporting by Hussein al-Amir:Writing by Mahmoud Barakat