A twin suicide bombing struck a village wedding north of Baghdad as the wedding party gathered in the evening hours, killing at least 26 people and wounding dozens, a government spokesman said today.
The attack, which took place late yesterday, began when one suicide bomber wearing an explosives-laden belt walked into the wedding party assembled in an open area in Hajaj, near the city of Tikrit, about 130 kilometers from Baghdad.
The bomber detonated his explosives, only to be followed by the second attacker who blew himself up when people had gathered to help the victims of the first explosion, provincial spokesman Ali al-Hamdani told The Associated Press.
He said 26 people were killed, most of them children, and up to 67 were wounded.
Tikrit is about 130 kilometers, or 80 miles, from Baghdad. It didn’t provide more details and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on the Islamic State group, which has staged similar attacks in the past.
IS has also used large-scale attacks in an effort to distract from its losses as Iraqi forces battle to retake all of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city from the Sunni militant group.
(Feature image for representation/ Source: Reuters)
