TUZ KHURMATU – Mortars and a truck bomb targeting Kurdish forces in Tuz Khurmatu Friday killed at least eight and wounded 30, including two Peshmerga, a security official said.
“This afternoon a truck bomb exploded near the Askari neighborhood, targeting Peshmerga forces, wounding two Peshmerga," said Faruq Ahmed, head of general security in the town. He added that the blast was followed by mortar rounds fired by Islamic State (IS/formerly ISIS) fighters.
"After people gathered at the scene of the explosion, armed IS men pounded the place with mortar rounds,” he said. Preliminary reports have eight people killed and 30 wounded, he added.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces strengthened their positions in Tuz Khurmatu, 85 Kilometers south of Kirkuk, after the withdrawal of Iraq’s armed forces from the region in June.
The multi-ethnic town of mostly Turkmen has been the scene of several explosions and attacks by the Sunni extremists in the last two months.
