Motorcycle Bomb Kills 4 in Iraq's Basra, ISIS Role Suspected

Iraq declared victory over ISIS in December 2017 after recapturing territory with the help of the US and Iran.

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A motorcycle bomb rocked the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Tuesday, 7 December, killing four people, Reuters reported. This is the first attack in Basra in several years.

A senior official of the Iraqi administration said that terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were suspected of orchestrating the attack.

ISIS, however, is yet to claim responsibility for the deadly bombing.

Basra is a predominantly Shiite Muslim city, and ISIS is a Sunni terrorist organisation.

Saad Maan, the head of Iraq's Security Media Cell, said that forensic and technical teams were sweeping the blast site to ascertain the nature of the bombing, Al Jazeera reported.

The blast occurred near al-Joumhouria Hospital, a major medical centre in the city.

Iraq declared victory over ISIS in December 2017, after recapturing territory from it with the help of the US and Iran, thereby destroying its self-styled Islamic Caliphate.

But the terrorist group is still able to successfully carry out sporadic attacks, especially in the northern parts of the country.

"After this terrorist act, the people of Basra must definitely be cautious and careful. Basra became unsafe today," a car mechanic, who works close to the blast site, told Reuters.

(With inputs from Reuters and Al Jazeera)