MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-VIOLENCE Bomb attacks at swimming pool in northern Iraq kill at least 12

Record ID: 146052

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-VIOLENCE Bomb attacks at swimming pool in northern Iraq kill at least 12
  • Date: 25th July 2015
  • Summary: TUZ KHURMATU, IRAQ (JULY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE OF SWIMMING POOL AND SPORTS CENTRE WRECKAGE AND DEBRIS ON FLOOR OF SPORTS CENTRE DESTROYED ROOF DEBRIS ON GROUND DEBRIS ON POOL TABLE SHOE AND BLOOD ON FLOOR AMID WRECKAGE WRECKAGE NEAR SWIMMING POOL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED RESIDENT, SAYING: ''At 3:30 pm, the criminal suicide bomber attacked the swimming and sports club in Tuz (Khurmatu), which Turkmen youths frequent.'' SECURITY OFFICERS OUTSIDE SWIMMING POOL
  • Embargoed: 9th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA82VC5AQGUEOP70TD7P6C3PB8V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: At least 12 people were killed on Saturday (July 25) when two suicide bombers attacked a crowded swimming pool in northern Iraq, a local official and police sources said.
    The attacks in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, about 175 km (110 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, left 45 others wounded. Most of the victims were Shi'ites from the country's ethnic Turkmen minority.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Islamic State militants have recently launched a string of bombings in Baghdad and other provinces, including a huge attack earlier this month in Diyala province that killed more than 100 people.
    Security forces and militia groups are currently focused on the western province of Anbar, where they have been gearing up for an offensive to retake the mainly Sunni governorate, Iraq's largest, from the radical Sunni group.
    The mayor of Tuz Khurmatu, Ali al-Huasaini, and two police sources said a suicide attacker detonated his explosives vest at a swimming pool where dozens of men and children were swimming in scorching summer heat.
    Another bomber then blew up explosives packed onto a motorcycle at the swimming pool's entrance as police and rescue teams were evacuating casualties, they said.
    ''At 3:30 pm, the criminal suicide bomber attacked the swimming and sports club in Tuz (Khurmatu), which Turkmen youths frequent," said a local resident.
    Police and hospital sources said the death toll could rise, because many of the wounded were in critical condition.
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