One killed in bombing in Kirkuk as Iraqi election campaigning begins

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — One individual was killed and at least five more injured after a bomb exploded in a southern Kirkuk neighborhood where a Turkmen politician was reportedly passing by on Sunday evening

 

The bombing took place in the Khazrayi neighborhood located in the south of Kirkuk city at an automobile sales lot.  It claimed the life of one individual and 5 injured, Rudaw was told.

  
Lt. Col. Afrasiaw Kamil Waisi, the Kirkuk police spokesperson, told Rudaw that the car exploded as the convoy of Amar Kahiya, the Turkmen Front candidate, was passing by, resulting in a bodyguard being killed and another injured.  

“While a candidate of ours named Amar Kahiya was an automobile sales lot in the Khazra neighborhood in the south of Kirkuk, a car exploded, our candidate’s bodyguard was injured, and a citizen was martyred,” Aydin Maruf, a politburo member and Iraqi MP from the Turkmen Front, told Rudaw.

 

Kirkuk Now, a news outlet based in the city, put the figures at one killed and 12 injured.

Iraq will hold parliamentary elections on May 12. Campaigning in Kirkuk began on Saturday.

No group immediately claimed the attack. 
 
Kirkuk’s and disputed territories’ security has deteriorated since Peshmerga forces withdrew from the area on October 16.

 

Turkey's foreign ministry had "strongly condemned" an attack on Enver Fahri Kerim, a deputy candidate for the Kirkuk Turkmen Front.

Ankara stated Kerim was on the Kirkuk-Baghdad highway on Thursday evening when his chauffer was wounded by unknown gunmen. The driver is now recovering.

Turkey calls on relevant Iraqi authorities to take the necessary steps as soon as possible as there has been an "intensification and increasing attacks" on the main elements of Iraqi Turkmen.

Other components in Kirkuk like the Kakayes have complained that Iraqi security forces return to bases in the evening leaving villages and roads vulnerable to ISIS attack.

Iraqi, Kurdish, and US-led coalition officials have acknowledged the presence of ISIS remnants in and around the oil-rich diverse province.

 

There were reports of Peshmerga redeployment for join security of the city, but a Peshmerga ministry official denied there has been an agreement.

Last updated at 8:50 p.m.