At least 11 civilians were killed in eastern Iraq when their minibus was hit by a mine explosion before being targeted by a sniper in a jihadist attack, security sources and the provincial governor said Friday.
The attack in the province of Diyalaperpetrated on Thursday night, had as a white minibus in which civilians were traveling who were returning from an election rally, an Interior Ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP.
The governor of Diyala, Muthana al Tamimi, denounced a “cowardly operation perpetrated by the terrorist group Daesh”, in reference to the jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) organization.
On his Facebook page he asked the security forces “redouble vigilance against sleeper cells” of IS.
At least “11 people died and 17 were injured in an attack carried out with an explosive device and then with shots directed at people” in the city of Al Omraniya, a second security source from Baghdad told AFP.