Car bomb blast kills two in Iraq's Mosul: medics

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - A car bomb blast in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday killed at least two people - a child and a member of the security forces - and wounded 10 others, a local medical official said. Security sources reported earlier that the blast in Mosul's Muthanna district wounded at least five security personnel, but the number of wounded was set to rise. It was the second explosion in just over a week to hit the city which was Islamic State's de facto capital from 2014 to 2017. Such incidents are usually blamed on IS militants still at large in parts of northern Iraq. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Mosul has been the site of several bomb blasts in recent months. In last week's attack a car packed with explosives blew up killing two people and wounding another 24 near Mosul University. Militants have adapted their tactics to insurgent-style attacks since Islamic State was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and driven out of areas it had controlled for years. IS militants are currently facing an assault by U.S.-backed forces in Syria in some of the last areas they hold. (Reporting by Salih Elias and Jamal Badrani; Writing by John Davison in Baghdad; Editing by Toby Chopra)