Car bomb kills four, wounds 15 near Iraq's Mosul

At least four people were killed and 15 wounded in a car bomb blast in the northern Iraqi town of Qayyara on Tuesday, police and medical sources said.

A vehicle packed with explosives was parked near a restaurant and a crowded market area in Qayyara, south of the city of Mosul, police said. Health official said the death toll might rise as some of the wounded were in a critical condition.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but Islamic State militants often carry out such attacks.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December, dislodging the group from all territories it held after its self-proclaimed caliphate, which also composed part of Syria, collapsed earlier in 2017.

The group's fighters have since waged a campaign of kidnapping, killing and bomb attacks targeting civilians and security forces.

An interior ministry spokesman said the blast was a result of a “terrorist attack by a car bomb”.