One killed, two injured in Kirkuk explosion

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – One person has been killed and two others injured in an explosion in Kirkuk’s Wasit district late on Tuesday. 

At 11:27 pm on Tuesday night, a bomb that appears to have been planted in a small landfill site detonated, killing one man named by police as Yassir Jalal and injuring two others named as Muzafar Ibrahim and Alla Muhssin.

“The injured are in hospital, and the security forces have started investigations and have set up more than one checkpoint in the neighbourhoods,” Colonel Samman Sidiq of Kirkuk police told Rudaw.

It is not yet clear who was responsible for planting the device or whether the victims were specifically targeted. 

Oil-rich Kirkuk is part of the disputed territories, claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil. 

Following the events of October 16, when the Peshmerga withdrew from the city, Kirkuk came under the control of the Iraqi Army and Shiite paramilitias. The security situation has since declined, with ISIS remnants resuming attacks, kidnappings, and murders across the province. 

Discussions are underway which could see the return of the Peshmerga to the disputed areas. An official decision is yet to be taken.