Bombing kills 18, injures 23 in eastern Iraq

At least 18 people have lost their lives and 23 others sustained injuries in a powerful explosion in a town in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala near the border with Iran.

Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the bomb attack took place in the town of al-Khalis, located roughly 15 kilometers (9 miles) northwest of the provincial capital city of Baqubah, on Monday morning.

The head of the Provincial Council, Omar Maan al-Korawi, said a car rigged with explosives was detonated near the entrance to the Department of Agriculture in the town.

No individual or militant group has claimed responsibility for the act of violence, yet.

The development came only a day after a bomber attacked a security checkpoint in the Shia-majority district of Kadhimiyah, north of the capital, Baghdad, killing at least 10 civilians and four policemen.

A police officer said at least 31 people were also wounded in the attack.

Latest figures released by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq show a total of 662 Iraqis were killed and 1,457 others injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in June.

According to the UN mission, the number of civilian fatalities stood at 382. Violence also claimed the lives of 280 members of the Iraqi security forces in that month. A great portion of the fatalities was recorded in Baghdad, where 236 civilians were killed.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists launched a campaign of terror in the country in June 2014.

Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization units, have been pushing the militants out of the country’s territory.