A team of experts from both Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior destroyed all the explosives, materials and equipment of the fireworks factory in Khanaqin district of Diyala province and the factory was closed since it has been operating without any permission and license
The move comes after an explosion inside the factory last Saturday left two people dead and three injured while the owner is still on the run.
An official of the team that came to Khanaqin to detonate the explosives and materials of the factory anonymously told KirkukNow, “An expert team is supervising this process. It has moved the materials to another location outside the city and successfully destroyed it.”
The factory is located in the industrial zone in southern Khanaqin of Yadala province and had no license. The quantity of materials in the factory was estimated at five tons.
Khanaqin District is part of Diyala province and is one of the disputed areas between the Iraqi Federal Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG. It is famous for its palm orchards, and farms for planting wheat and barley.
According to the team, there were eight types of materials in the factory that were mixed together to make fireworks.
Khanaqin security forces issued an arrest warrant against the owner of the factory, but he has not yet been arrested. It is not clear how the blast occurred and security forces are currently investigating the incident, a source at Khanaqin police said on the condition of anonymity.
Video: AN expert team detonatie material found at fireworks factory in Khanaqin.
The disputed territories extend from Khanaqin, home to 90,000 population, on the border with Iran, northeast of Baghdad, stretching to Kirkuk and up to Shingal (Sinjar) in the west on the borders with Syria.
Most of the disputed territories were under control of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces up to October 2017, when the Iraqi Security Forces ISF took over control of these territories.
