UPDATE - Massive car bomb kills 21 in Turkmen district of Iraq

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL AND NUMBER OF INJURED

By Hussein al-Amir and Ali Mukarrem Garip

BAGHDAD (AA) - At least 21 people were killed Tuesday when the Turkmen-majority Tuz Khurmatu district in Iraq’s Saladin province north of Baghdad was rocked by a massive car bomb, according to a provincial security commission head.

Fifty-two people were also injured in the car bomb blast, Mahdi Taqi, the president of the Saladin Provincial Security Commission, told Anadolu Agency.

“A curfew has been imposed in Tuz Khurmatu district in order to prevent a possible second attack,” Taqi added.

A booby-trapped vehicle exploded at noon Tuesday near a crowded market in Tuz Khurmatu, according to Police First Lt. Numan al Jubori, .

The blast also damaged several nearby structures and vehicles parked in the area, al-Jubori said.

While no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing, the Iraqi authorities typically blame such attacks on the Daesh terrorist group, which has recently suffered a string of defeats -- both in Iraq and in neighboring Syria.

In mid-October, Iraqi forces seized control of Tuz Khurmatu following the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters from the majority-Turkmen district.