Roadside bomb kills three women in Iraq's Diyala province

Three policemen were wounded by a second explosion upon their arrival on the scene, officials said

A member of Kurdish Peshmerga forces looks out over the Jalawla area of Diyala province after ISIS militants overran northern Iraq in June 2014. AFP

Bomb explosions killed three women and wounded three policemen in Diyala province north of Baghdad, Iraqi authorities said on Thursday.

A statement by the Media Security Cell, a division of the prime ministry, said the three women were riding a three-wheeled vehicle – known as a satuta – north of the city of Baquba when the roadside bomb exploded.

“A second bomb exploded when a police force arrived to the scene, wounding three of its members,” the statement said.

Diyala is a rural region that borders Iran and is a main supply route for Shiite militias backed by Tehran, who act as warlords in the province and other areas where the grip of the central government is weak.

It is one of several regions in Iraq that has seen renewed operations by ISIS since the group lost its last territorial stronghold in Mosul three years ago.

The province is inhabited by Sunnis, Shiites and Turkmen and is one of Iraq's main farming regions.

The attack was announced as Iranian security officials, including Deputy Defence Minister Qassem Taqi, were visiting Baghdad.

The interior ministry said the high-level Iranian delegation met Iraqi officials to discuss “deepening mutual co-operation on issues relating to security and countering terrorism and crime in all their forms."