IED blast in Kirkuk, no casualties reported

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: An improvised explosive device went off near Kirkuk on Saturday but no casualties were reported, according to a source in the city’s Joint Coordination Center. “The IED went off in an area between the villages of al-Ilwiya and al-Tuwaila’a of al-Riad district, (45 km) southwest of Kirkuk, but left no casualties,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The Riad police station patrols headed to the explosion scene to investigate the incident,” he added. Meanwhile, personnel from the al-Bakara checkpoint had found on Friday (Oct. 23) a home-made missile left in a farmland on the al-Huweija-al-Riad highway, (65 km) southwest of Kirkuk. The oil-rich Kirkuk, a city of mixed Arab, Kurdish and Turkmen population, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P) 1