UN envoy condemns car bomb attack in Iraq’s Tikrit
Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jan Kubiš
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – UN Special Envoy to Iraq Ján Kubiš on Monday strongly condemned a car bomb attack that hit Tikrit city in Salahuddin province on Sunday, leaving five civilians dead and 16 others wounded.
A statement issued by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) quoted Kubiš as saying “this cowardly attack outside a restaurant in central Tikrit is pure evil. It has no aims other than to kill civilians and to try to destroy Iraq’s recovery and peaceful march after years of conflict.”
Kubiš underlined that the plots of terrorists to undermine security and destabilize the areas still recovering from the scourge of terrorism “will fail with the unity of the Iraqi people and the vigilance of the security forces.”
He also called on the Iraqi authorities to focus all efforts on combating the terrorists’ sleeper cells to thwart any future attacks against civilians.
Kubiš further offered his deepest sympathies to the families of those who lost their lives and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The surge in violence between armed groups and government forces has resulted in over five million internally displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.