Five civilians killed in two bomb attacks in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Five civilians were wounded in one of two bomb blasts that targeted coffee shops in Kirkuk city on Saturday, security source said.

Unidentified people attacked a coffee shop on al-Quds street in central Kirkuk using two IEDs, which left five civilians wounded, the source told Shafaq News.

A similar attack was launched using three bombs on Tese’in street in Kirkuk, with no casualties reported, the source added.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

A total of 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured, excluding police, in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, with 201 civilian casualties (51 killed, 150 injured). Salahuddin Governorate followed, with 24 killed and 60 injured, and Kirkuk had 12 killed and 28 injured.

Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State had occupied.

The war against IS has displaced nearly five million people, with tens of thousands of civilians and militants killed since the launch of the offensives to recapture occupied cities.