Bomb kills two Shia pilgrims in E.Iraq near Iran border

By Hussein al-Amir

DIYALA, Iraq

Two people were killed Tuesday in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province in a bomb attack that appeared to target a group of Shia pilgrims.

“An improvised explosive device was detonated on the side of the road as a group of pilgrims passed through the area on their way to a Shia shrine in Diyala’s Khanaqin district near the Iranian border,” Police Captain Habib al-Shimmari told Anadolu Agency.

The bomb left two people dead and at least four others wounded, al-Shimmari said, going on to suggest that remnants of the Daesh terrorist group were behind the attack.

Last year, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled.

It appears, however, that the notorious terrorist group still maintains an active -- if limited -- presence in certain parts of the country.