Suicide bomb attacks in Iraq

  • 20/05/2017
Checkpoint in Basra, Iraq (Reuters)
Checkpoint in Basra, Iraq (Reuters)

Two car bombers have blown themselves up at checkpoints on a highway near oilfields in the southern Iraqi province of Basra, killing several people, police sources and an interior ministry spokesman said.

Iraq's South Oil Company said there was no disruption to operations but oil police were put on maximum alert in response to the attack, officials said.

Bomb attacks in southern Iraq, where the bulk of the country's oil is produced, are relatively rare.

The victims included two soldiers, a traffic policeman and an unknown number of civilians travelling in a bus.

The first blast took place at the Rumeila checkpoint and the second around onekm away at another checkpoint called al-Sadra, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Reuters