Twin car bomb attacks kill nearly 60 in eastern Iraq

Twin car bomb explosions in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala have left nearly 60 ​dead and more than 100 injured.

According to Iraqi police, one of the two attacks took place at a market in Huwaidar near the provincial capital Baquba, located 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 51 people and wounding over 70 others on Monday night.

“The attacker managed to pass a checkpoint by lining up with a wedding motorcade and then split off with his explosives-packed vehicle to blow it up in a crowded marketplace,” said Mohammed al-Tamimi, the Diyala police captain.

Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the second attack occurred in a residential area in the village of Kanaan in the province, claiming the lives of at least seven people and injuring some 25 others.

Takfiri accounts, affiliated with Daesh group, claimed responsibility for at least one of the deadly attacks on Twitter.

ISIL claimed responsibility for a car bomb explosion in Diyala on July 17, which killed at least 115 people, including women and children.

In a statement a day after the deadly incident, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi condemned the attack as a “despicable crime” and vowed that the army would continue fighting the terrorists.

ISIL began its acts of terrorism through the Iraqi territory in June 2014. The Iraqi army, joined by volunteer fighters, has been fighting to flush the terrorists out of the areas they have under control.