BAGHDAD
Seven people lost their lives and 23 others were injured, including two soldiers, on Thursday in multiple explosions that rocked Baghdad, police said.
Two improvised explosive devices simultaneously targeted a military convoy in al-Rashidiyah area in northern Baghdad. Two soldiers were killed and five others were wounded in the attack, a police captain told The Anadolu Agency.
Two people were killed and 11 others were injured when an improvised bomb exploded in al-Kazemiyah town in northern Baghdad, police said.
Another improvised device exploded near a market place in al-Nahrawan area in southeastern Baghdad. Three people were killed and seven others were wounded.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had lifted Baghdad’s eight-year curfew on Feb. 7, citing improved security conditions.
Daesh losing ground
Daesh (the Arabic acronym of ISIL) withdrew Thursday from the Kayyara military airbase southeast of Mosul, police said.
The air base was used by Daesh as a main stronghold in northern Iraq and was previously known as Saddam’s air base.
“Daesh blew up the air base’s building before withdrawing and took hundreds of prisoners, who had been captured in the air base, to unknown destinations,” Mohamad Joma, police captain in Ninawah province said.
The air base, which is located around 60 kilometers south of Mosul and 150 kilometers north of Tikrit, was targeted at the end of February by the U.S-led international coalition.
Iraq has plunged into a security vacuum since June 2014 when Daesh stormed the northern Iraqi province of Mosul and declared what it called a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
