UPDATE – Suicide bombings kill 12 in northern Iraq

*UPDATES DEATH TOLL

By Ali Jawwad

SALADIN, Iraq (AA) – The death toll from two suicide attacks in northern Iraq on Sunday rose to 12, according to an Iraqi army officer.

“Twelve people were killed in the bombings in Tikrit and Samarra,” Saad Mohamed of the Saladin Operations Command told Anadolu Agency.

He said a senior police officer and Iranian pilgrims were among those killed in the attacks.

Earlier Sunday, a bomber blew up a vehicle packed with explosives at a security checkpoint at the southern entrance of Tikrit city, killing seven people and injuring 15 others.

Another suicide bombing struck a car park in the city of Samarra, a holy site for Shia pilgrims, killing an Iranian national.

Mohamed said security forces have declared a curfew across Samarra in anticipation of further attacks.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Sunday’s bombings come amid a wide-scale offensive aimed at ousting the Daesh terrorist group from the northern city of Mosul.

In mid-2014, Daesh captured Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, before overrunning vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.

Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and the U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 22,000 people have been displaced since the beginning of the Mosul offensive.