A car bomb killed three people in Iraq's Mosul on Thursday, medical and security officials said, the first such attack since jihadists were ousted from the city last year.

The Islamic State group, which once controlled a cross-border "caliphate" home to millions of people, lost control of Mosul and the rest of its urban strongholds in 2017 but it has continued to wage guerilla-style attacks across Iraq.

On Thursday, a car bomb went off around dinner time at a restaurant in the war-ravaged west of Iraq's second city.

"A terrorist attack via car bomb hit near a restaurant in western Mosul," Iraq's security services said in a statement distributed to media.

The blast killed three people and wounded 12 others, a security official told AFP. A medical source confirmed the toll.

Neither could say whether the victims were civilians or combatants, but witnesses in Mosul said the restaurant is known to be frequented by security personnel.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

IS overran Mosul in 2014, transforming the northern city into its de facto Iraqi capital until government forces recaptured it in July 2017.

Months later, the Iraqi government declared it had fully defeated IS.

But the group still carries out bloody hit-and-run attacks against civilian and government infrastructure, mostly in the rugged mountain terrain of the north and in desert areas along the western border with Syria.

Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

More than 200 mass graves found in former IS territory in Iraq: UN
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 6, 2018
More than 200 mass graves containing up to 12,000 victims have been found so far in Iraq that could hold vital evidence of war crimes by the Islamic State group, the UN said Tuesday. The United Nations in Iraq (UNAMI) and its human rights office said they had documented a total of 202 mass graves in parts of western and northern Iraq held by IS between 2014 and 2017. Even more sites could be uncovered in the months to come, the report warned, urging Iraqi authorities to properly preserve and exc ... read more