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Blasts hit another ammunition depot on Tuesday in parallel with reported ones

Published : 22 Aug 2019, 00:08

  DF-Xinhua Report
Photo taken on Nov. 18, 2018 shows security forces clearing the explosion site in Tikrit, capital of Iraq's central province of Salahudin. File Photo Xinhua.

Iraqi security source said on Wednesday that explosions occurred at another ammunition depot in the central province of Salahudin on Tuesday in parallel with the reported ones hitting a paramilitary Hashd Shaabi camp.

A total of two explosions occurred at the ammunition depot belonging to Jund al-Imam group, a Shiite militia under the umbrella of Hashd Shaabi units, at Camp Speicher, an air base located some 15 km north of Salahudin's provincial capital Tikrit, a source from the provincial Operations Command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The cause of the explosions wasn't immediately clear, but they were followed by many blasts of ammunition at the depot where different weapons and mortar shells were stored, the source said.

It was not known if the explosions at Camp Speicher resulted in human casualties, he added.

The explosions were similar to those that rocked the ammunition depot of Hashd Shaabi near Balad air base, in which at least two paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members were killed and five others wounded.

Last week, one person was killed and 29 others wounded when a huge explosion hit an ammunition depot at the Falcon military base in southern Baghdad, where Hashd Shaabi members are also stationed alongside Iraq's federal police units.

The explosion prompted Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who is also commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, to order that all military flights including reconnaissance aircraft be prohibited from using the Iraqi airspace without his permission.

Mahdi also ordered the relocation of all ammunition depots, including those of the Hashd Shaabi units, to areas outside the cities.