Gift box explosion kills two in Baghdad

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A deadly explosion in Baghdad’s Shula district killed at least two people and injured two others, an official said on Tuesday, and security forces launched an investigation.

“The incident in the Salamiyat area in Shula was caused by the explosion of a device planted inside a gift box. It was sent through a delivery service via a tuk-tuk to a citizen waiting to receive it near a military checkpoint,” Walid al-Tamimi, the commander of Baghdad operations told state media (INA).

“The device inside the gift box exploded as the citizen received it,” Tamimi said, adding that the blast resulted in the death of the tuk-tuk driver and a soldier, the injury of another soldier at the military checkpoint, as well as the injury of the targeted person.

Tamimi said the incident was “criminal” but ruled out links to terrorism, stating that the issue stemmed from personal conflict.

The security forces formed a task force and launched an investigation into the incident.