Six family members killed, injured as booby-trapped house explodes in Anbar

Anbar (Iraqinews.com) – Six family members were killed and injured Monday as a booby-trapped house exploded in Rawa district in Anbar, a security source was quoted as saying.

“A bomb planted by Islamic State inside a house in central Rawa district in Anbar exploded once a six-strong family entered it following a long period of displacement, leaving two of the family members dead and four others injured,” a security source with the Anbar Operations Command told Basnews.

“Among the injured were a woman and a child, who were carried to hospital suffering from severe injuries,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

He added that a security campaign was launched in search of any booby-trapped houses targeting repatriated families in in Rawa.

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence earlier in November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.

Islamic State declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.

In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Islamic State three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq’s territory.