Military officer killed in bomb explosion in N. Iraq

BAGHDAD, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) — An intelligence officer was killed and three soldiers injured on Wednesday in a bomb explosion in Iraq’s northern province of Kirkuk, an Iraqi army source said.
Lieutenant Colonel Laith al-Hayali of the Iraqi Army’s 8th Division Intelligence Service was killed and three soldiers injured when an explosive device detonated near their vehicle while moving in a village near the town of Dibis, northwest of the namesake provincial capital, Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, an army officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Iraqi security forces rushed to the scene and evacuated the victims to Kirkuk General Hospital, the source said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Sporadic attacks still haunt Iraq despite an improvement in the security situation after the defeat of the extremist militants of the Islamic State group across the country in 2017. ■