At least a dozen people have reportedly lost their lives and many more sustained injuries in a powerful bomb attack in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, police and medical sources say.
Faraan: A security source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network that a bomb-laden car that was parked at a street near al-Jamhouria General Hospital of the city, located roughly 550 kilometers (340 miles) south of the capital Baghdad, went off on Tuesday noon.
Black smoke was seen over the area and ambulances rushed to save the wounded. Police cordoned off the site of the blast shortly afterward.
Policemen were collecting body parts from a minibus that was badly damaged by the blast, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. The street was covered with broken glass and blood.
A statement released by the Security Media Cell, affiliated with the Iraqi prime minister’s office, said the explosion was caused by a motorcycle rigged with explosives.
Police and health sources told Reuters that at least 20 others were wounded.
Iraq’s military said in a statement that forensic experts were still at the scene to determine further details.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but it bears the hallmark of members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
