Iraq: Two children killed as old explosives go off in former Islamic State stronghold

Two children were killed and three others wounded on Friday when an explosive device went off in a village once held by the Islamic State (IS) group near Mosul, northern Iraq, according to local reports.

The deadly explosion occurred at a cemetery in the village of Omar Qabji in Nineveh province, a security source told Alsumaria TV.

The explosive device that went off had been left behind by IS, the unnamed source told the Iraqi television channel.

The IS group swept through parts of Iraq, including Mosul and its surrounding areas, in 2014.

They were territorially defeated in December 2017 after fierce fighting with Iraqi security forces and allied groups, but left the area they once controlled littered with explosive devices.

Before the Islamic State, the presence of unexploded devices was already a major issue in Iraq thanks to an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s and the US-led invasion of 2003.

The devices pose a major threat to Iraqis, and thousands have been killed or injured by landmines and other exploding devices in recent decades.