MOSUL (Dispatches) – At least six people were killed, including two soldiers, and 30 wounded in a car bomb blast in the northern Iraqi town of Qayyara on Tuesday, police and medical sources said.
A vehicle packed with explosives was parked near a restaurant and a crowded market area in Qayyara, south of the city of Mosul, police said. Health officials and police had earlier put the death toll at four but said it could rise as some of the wounded were in critical condition.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but Daesh terrorists often carry out such attacks.
Iraq’s top military commander in Mosul Major-General Najim al-Jabouri accused Daesh of carrying out the Qayyara attack.
"We are positive the car bomb attack was carried out by Daesh terrorists and we will bring them to justice,” Jabouri said.
Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December, dislodging the group from all territories it held after its self-proclaimed caliphate, which extended into Syria, collapsed earlier in 2017.
The group’s terrorists have since waged a campaign of kidnapping, killing and bomb attacks targeting civilians and security forces.
An interior ministry spokesman said the blast was a result of a "terrorist attack by a car bomb”.
The Iraqi parliament speaker condemned the deadly car bomb attack.
"The repeated terrorist attacks in the liberated areas require a quick response to enhance intelligence efforts, and renew the security plans to ensure the protection of people and strengthen stability in these areas," Mohammed al-Halbousi said in a statement released by his office.
Halbousi also called for strengthening local police force and other security services, and urged the residents to support security forces.

Iraqis look at the damage following a car bomb explosion in Baghdad’s Sadr City, Iraq, on August 28, 2017.