Five killed in two suicide bombings claimed by ISIL in east Mosul
Attack comes just weeks after they were driven out
BAGHDAD // Five people were killed in two suicide bombings claimed by ISIL in eastern Mosul yesterday, just weeks after Iraqi forces drove the extremists out of the area.
More than a dozen people were injured in the attacks, which targeted a popular restaurant and a checkpoint, Iraqi military and medical officials said.
Four people were killed in the bombing at the Sayda Jamila restaurant and seven were wounded, officials said.
The second attack, at a checkpoint in the Nour neighborhood, killed one soldier and wounded seven others, including three soldiers. The liberation of eastern Mosul from ISIL has allowed a semblance of normality to slowly return to that part of the city – including residents playing soccer games and walking about without the restrictions imposed by the extremist group. ISIL still controls the western half of the city across the Tigris river.
The Sayda Jamila restaurant, located near a traffic circle of the same name, was among a few that reopened recently. Shops selling clothing, mobile phones and fresh produce trucked in from nearby Erbil have also opened their doors, although clean drinking water and other services remain in short supply.
Local officials appealed for better intelligence to prevent attacks like those on Friday, apparently meant to undermine the Iraqi forces’ efforts to maintain security in eastern Mosul ahead of the much larger battle for the city’s western half.
“We need support from the central government for intelligence work,” said Nineveh province police chief Brig Gen Wathaq Al Hamdani. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attacks through its affiliated Aamaq news agency.
But it said there had been three suicide attacks, one with an explosives-laden car and two with bombers on foot, carrying explosives’ vests. It said the attacks took place in the neighborhoods of Nour, Al Zuhour and Al Ziraei.
Extremists still control the western half of the city across the Tigris river