Local Editor

At least 18 people were martyred and 23 others sustained injuries in a powerful terrorist explosion in a town in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala near the border with Iran.

Security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the terrorist bomb attack took place in the town of al-Khalis, located roughly 15 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital city of Baqubah, on Monday morning.

The head of the Provincial Council, Omar Maan al-Korawi, said a car rigged with explosives was detonated near the entrance to the Department of Agriculture in the town.

No individual or militant group has claimed responsibility for the act of violence so far.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the terrorist "ISIS" group] terrorists launched a campaign of terror in the country in June 2014.

Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization units, have been pushing the militants out of the country's territory.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team