Car bomb strikes Mosul, first since city was retaken from ISIS

A car bomb exploded near a restaurant in Mosul on Thursday, November 8, security forces said, the first such attack since the city was retaken from Islamic State in July last year.

“A terrorist attack via car bomb hit near a restaurant in western Mosul,” Iraq’s security services said in a statement distributed to media.

The blast occurred near the Abu Layla restaurant according to social media reports.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said two people were killed and 11 wounded, Rudaw reported.

A security official told AFP the blast killed three people and injured 12 others. A medical source confirmed the toll.

Reuters reported medical sources at a nearby hospital as saying at least five people were killed and 14 injured.

It is unclear whether the victims were civilians or combatants, but witnesses in Mosul said the restaurant is frequented by security personnel.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

ISIS overran Mosul in 2014, transforming the northern city into its de facto Iraqi capital until government forces recaptured it in July 2017.

While ISIS has now lost all its urban footholds in Iraq it retains the capacity to launch deadly attacks, with cells operating in desert areas along the border with Syria and in the rugged mountain terrain of the north.

On October 23, a car bomb killed six people and wounded 26 more at a market in Al Qayyarah, 60 km (40 miles) south of Mosul.

This is a developing story, with reporting from AFP