Two people were killed and up to 24 others wounded Saturday in a suicide bomb attack in northern Baghdad. (AFP photo)
BAGHDAD, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and up to 24 others wounded Saturday in a suicide bomb attack in northern Baghdad, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.
The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive-laden motorcycle at the crowded Adan Square at the entrance of the holy Shiite neighborhood of Kadhmiyah, destroying 11 cars, the source said on condition of anonymity.
Earlier in the evening, the source cited first police reports and said at least two people killed and eight wounded by a booby-trapped car explosion.
Meanwhile, head of Baghdad provincial council Ryadh al-Adhadh told some local media that the suicide bomber detonated himself near his convoy in Adan Square and destroyed one of his vehicles, leaving one of his bodyguards killed and three others wounded.
However, the interior ministry source said that the incident is under investigation and it is yet to decide whether Adhadh's convoy was targeted by the blast, or his convoy was passing at the moment of the blast coincidentally.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for deadly attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.
The car bombing is the first this year in Baghdad city, which has been witnessing tangible improvement in security as the Iraqi security forces managed during the past few months to regain control of strongholds of the extremist IS militant group across the country.
On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.
Nevertheless, remnants of small groups and individuals of IS militants are still capable of carrying out attacks from time to time.