Two children dead in Iraqi Kurdistan IDP camp explosion

Two children died in an explosion at a camp for internally displaced people in Iraqi Kurdistan on Monday night, health and security sources have said.

A gas bottle exploded in one of the tents at Qadia camp, Duhok province, a member of the Iraqi Kurdish security forces told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Five people were injured in the explosion, local media reported, citing health sources.

Reports did not give the names or exact ages of the two children.

Explosions and blazes are common in Iraq's numerous IDP camps.

They are made even more dangerous by camp conditions, which include overcrowding, flimsy tents, and slow emergency response by the authorities.

A fire ripped through the Sharia camp in Duhok province in June, injuring 25 people.

Qadia camp is home to around 13,000 people, mostly from the Yazidi ethnoreligious minority.

There are over one million displaced people in Iraq, most of whom live in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Over the past year, the Iraqi government has pushed for all IDP camps to be shut in what it says is to end residents' protracted displacement.

However, the Iraqi Kurdish authorities have resisted, saying that conditions in the rest of Iraq are not safe for their return.