A young man in #Diyala’s northeastern disputed town of Khanaqin prevented a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest from carrying out an attack on a crowd in a casino located on the Allwan river bank late on Thursday June 20.
The disaster was averted when the young man grew suspicious of a man’s strange behavior and feared that he might be a suicide bomber; therefore the young man began to shout to alarm the people nearby.
The suicide bomber threw a hand grenade which led to the injury of three civilians.
An eye witness at the scene of the attack told KirkukNow that after the young man began to shout, “a hand grenade was blown up and the suicide bomber fell down, while three young men were injured.”
Ali Eesa, 24, who was sitting with a friend in Chwarchra Casino on the Allwan river bank said, “As soon as we hear the sound of the explosion we rushed outside the casino; we were told that it was a suicide bombing.”
“We I went out, I saw the suicide bomber who was wearing an explosive belt dying”, he added.
A source from Khanaqin police department said the suicide bomber was planning to blew himself up inside a café on Kornish street, but when the young man shouted to warn the people there, he threw a hand grenade which led to his own death, while 3 civilians were injured.”
“Bomb disposal teams later safely dismantled the explosive belt.” The source told KirkukNow.
Kornish Street located on the Allwan river side is home to many casinos and cafés, and is crowded at night.
Following the incident, Khanaqin police declared a curfew to control the situation.
A source from Khanaqin security department said, “Iraqi security forces have received information about possible suicide attacks and car bombings by Islamic State (IS) militants in Khanaqin.
Khanaqin is a multi-ethnic disputed territory northeast of Diyala claimed both by the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan regional government.
