Family of five killed in bomb blast in Iraqi besieged town

A woman and her four daughters were killed Tuesday as a roadside bomb planted in Shirqat by Islamic State (IS) militants exploded, according to a provincial security source.

The source added that the bomb apparently targeted civilians fleeing the militant-seized town of Shirqat in Iraq's Salahudin province.

The mother and her four daughters were killed on a road outside Shirqat, 280 km north of Baghdad, after fleeing their homes they sought help from security forces outside the besieged town, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Families from Shirqat were prevented from leaving their homes by IS militants who used them as human shields during armed military attacks.

However, the siege upon the town imposed by security forces has forced most extremist militants to flee the town towards the IS major stronghold in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad.

The escape of several IS militants weakened their grip on the town, enabling civilians to leave their homes, following long-term repeated power blackouts, acute food shortages, scarce drinking water and medicine.

Meanwhile, Iraq's Ministry of Migration and the Displaced said on Tuesday that over 6,866 families fled Shirqat and surrounding villages, which have been under extremist militant control since 2014.

The mass migration comes as security forces attempt to free the towns of Shirqat and Qayyara during their major offensive targeting liberating the IS's stronghold in Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh.

Iraq has witnessed increased violence since the IS took over parts of its northern and western regions in June 2014.

Tosday, several people place the blame of the chronic instability, cycle of violence and rise of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the United States.

Following the United States' invasion of Iraq in March 2003, under the pretext of existing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, currently exists as a mere rhetorical threat, with no factual evidence presented by International Inspection Committees assigned to the case.

The war waged by the United States against Iraq eventually ousted then executed former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, however weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found. Endit