Car bomb kills four, wounds 15 near Iraq's Mosul

At least four people were killed and 15 wounded in a car bomb blast in the northern Iraqi town of Qayyara on Tuesday, police and medical sources said.

A vehicle packed with explosives was parked near a restaurant and a crowded market area in Qayyara, south of the city of Mosul, police said. Health official said the death toll might rise as some of the wounded were in a critical condition.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but Islamic State militants often carry out such attacks, according to a Reuters report.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December, dislodging the group from all territories it held after its self-proclaimed caliphate, which also composed part of Syria, collapsed earlier in 2017.

The group’s fighters have since waged a campaign of kidnapping, killing, and bomb attacks targeting civilians and security forces.

An interior ministry spokesman said the blast was a result of a “terrorist attack by a car bomb”.