Triple blasts kill at least 12 in Iraq’s Tikrit

Three terrorist explosions have struck the north-central Iraq city of Tikrit, killing as many as 12 people.

A security source said the blasts rocked the northern entrance of Tikrit, which is the capital of Salahuddin Province, on Saturday.

The source said explosive devices loaded onto a vehicle were first set off at the Aqwas security check post before two bombers blew their explosive belts there.

The fatalities included nine police officers and three members of the Iraqi volunteer fighters known as al-Hashad al-Sha’bi or Popular Mobilization Units, the al-Forat news agency said.

The blasts also injured 23 others, including civilians, while the province’s police chief and a member of the city council escaped unscathed.

A curfew was imposed over the city afterwards.

Tikrit had been seized by Daesh in June 2014, when the Takfiri terrorist group unleashed its campaign of death and destruction on the country. It was, however, liberated a year later.

The Iraqi war media, meanwhile, reported the initiation of operations to liberate Salahuddin’s northern districts.

On Thursday, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi addressed the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying that his country was mostly liberated from Daesh.

He reiterated the pledge for the liberation by year-end of the northern city of Mosul, which fell to Daesh in 2014 and has been called the group’s so-called headquarters in Iraq.