BASRA: A motorcycle rigged with explosives went off in the center of Iraq’s southern city of Basra on Tuesday, killing at least four people and wounding four others, according to Iraqi security forces.
The blast set ablaze two other vehicles and sent a column of black smoke into the sky. The governor of Basra, Asaad al-Idani, told reporters on the scene that a motorcycle had exploded, quickly blaming militants from the Islamic State group.
“The blast carries fingerprints of Daesh,” Basra Governor Asaad al-Edani told reporters. However, there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the morning attack near a major hospital, which shook residents of the city.
Iraq’s Security Media Cell, an outlet affiliated with the country’s security forces, said in a statement that forensics teams were at the scene of the blast and that more details would be released on the nature of the explosion, once investigations were completed.
Policemen were collecting body parts from a minibus that was badly damaged by the blast, a Reuters witness said. The street was covered with broken glass and blood. The governor announced three days of mourning.
Bomb attacks in the Basra area have been rare — the last major one was in 2017 and claimed by Daesh. The authorities have kept a tight grip on the area where the bulk of the OPEC member’s oil is produced and exported.
Helped by a US-led coalition and Iran-backed forces, Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017, after driving it from swathes of territory where it had declared a self-styled caliphate.
However, the militant group continues to carry out sporadic attacks, particularly in the north, where it briefly seized a village on Sunday before being driven out.
