“A terrorist attack on one of the funerals in the Albu Jili area in Yathrib district in Salahaddin province led to a number of victims,” read a statement from the military’s Security Media Cell.
Three people were killed and seven injured in the attack, Jamal Agab, a spokesperson for the media cell, told Rudaw.
Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir al-Shammari, deputy commander of Iraqi Joint Operations, led a security delegation visiting Yathrib on Saturday to investigate the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility, but militants from the Islamic State group (ISIS) are active in the area and they claimed in Telegram channels on Friday to have fired rockets at the Baiji refinery in Salahaddin province.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. It was declared territorially defeated in 2019. However, it remains a threat on both sides of the border, carrying out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, abductions, and attacks on vital infrastructure like electricity pylons. In Iraq it is especially active in areas where there is a security vacuum between the Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraq’s federal forces. The two sides are increasing their collaboration in order to deny ISIS space to operate.
Iraqi security forces launched an operation against ISIS in Kirkuk last week.
