SALADIN, Iraq
Five car bomb explosions killed four fighters from al-Hashd al-Shaabi – a pro-government Iraqi Shiite militia – and wounded 35 others in northern Samarra, Iraq, according to a security source.
“Five suicide attackers drove their vehicles into Iraqi security forces and al-Hashd al-Shaabi factions and managed to kill four people and wound 35 others,” a security source, who preferred not to divulge his name, told The Anadolu Agency.
The explosions occurred in the al-Haweesh area and the highway in Samarra. Iraqi security forces have taken security measures in preparation for any further attacks which may occur, the source added.
Samarra is a city in the northern province of Saladin with a Sunni majority, but two Shiite shrines in the city make it a destination for Shiite visitors.
A security vacuum has gripped Iraq since June 2014, when ISIL stormed the northern province of Mosul and declared what it calls a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
