Car bombs kill 10 in central Iraq

Several car bombs have exploded on the outskirts of Iraq’s holy city of Samarra, killing ten people and injuring a further 41, a security official and eyewitnesses told journalists on Thursday. The three bombs killed a civilian and two police officers, and were followed by a rocket and mortar fire battle, according to the official. This lasted for several hours, as gunmen escaped the security forces and fighter jets targeting them. The city where the incidents occurred is 125km (80 miles) north of Baghdad, and is a place of great religious significance to the country’s Shiite population. It contains an important shrine. Samarra, however, is itself is a Sunni-majority city. The Islamic State’s hardline Islamist version of faith does not believe in tombs or shrines. Ever since the destruction of one in 2006, tit-for-tat violence has been happening around the city.