Twin suicide attack kills twelve following offensive against IS

The Iraqi military have placed a curfew on the city after two car bombs attacked a military checkpoint. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

24 September, 2016

The suicide bombers attacked a military checkpoint entering the city [Getty]

Two seperate car bombs killed twelve people and injured sixteen others at a military checkpoint in Tikrit on Saturday.

Local sources told The New Arab that no-one had claimed responsibility for the two suicide bombers who drove two separate car-bombs at a checkpoint.

Safaa Abdulhameed, The New Arab's correspondent in Iraq, said: "The security services have announced a curfew in Tikrit until further notice, for fear of further explosions."

It is possible that the attack may be connected to a recent military operation in the Salahuddin governate.

A press statement from the Iraqi military yesterday said: "The security forces launched an operation with the 35th and 51st armoured brigade, supported by artillery battalions, the air force and coalition aircraft."

A video posted to Twitter by Rudaw News shows smoke rising from the police checkpoint.

Twitter Post

Despite no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, Islamic State [IS] frequently carries out suicide attacks targeting both civilians and security forces in Iraq.

Hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, Tikrit lies 60 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad and was the second city to fall to IS in 2014 as the extremists swept through large areas north and west of the capital.

It was also the first city to be recaptured by Iraqi forces, which are now preparing for a push on Mosul, a city north of Tikrit that is the last one held by IS in the country.

Western officials have indicated that the drive for Mosul, Iraq's second city, may begin next month, though Baghdad has declined to specify when it will start.

While the announcement of the operation may be coming soon, Iraqi forces, which in some cases are dozens of kilometers (miles) away, will then have to fight their way to the city and surround it before an assault can take place.

Even after Mosul is retaken, the extremists will still have the ability to carry out attacks like those in Tikrit Saturday.

Analysts have warned that IS is likely to resort to more such attacks in the face of the loss of its last urban bastion in Iraq.