Journalist dead, three injured as roadside bomb hits vehicle in Baghdad

A heat-seeking missile also strikes the Humvee armoured vehicle

BAGHDAD: An attack killed an Iraqi journalist and wounded two others on Wednesday in the Qayyarah area to the north of Baghdad, a journalist and an official said.

A roadside bomb hit the vehicle carrying the journalists in Qayyarah, said Hisham al Baidhani, a colleague of the two wounded journalists at Iraqiya state television.

A heat-seeking missile also struck the Humvee armoured vehicle, said Muhannad al Aqabi, the head of the media office for pro-government paramilitary forces.



The attack comes only days after Iraq announced the recapture of a key airbase from the Islamic State group in the area of Qayyarah, about 60km south of Iraq's IS-held second city Mosul.

Aqabi named the slain journalist as Al Ghadeer television cameraman Ali Mahmud.

Those wounded were identified as Ali Jawad and Ali Muftin of Iraqiya state television.

The latest death comes after a photographer was killed by a mortar round in June during the battle to reclaim Fallujah from the Islamic State group.

Iraq announced the recapture of the Qayyarah airbase on Saturday, which the Pentagon has said will serve as a "springboard" for retaking Mosul from the militants.



Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Monday an additional 560 US troops would be sent to Iraq, and a senior US officer said most of them would go to the Qayyarah base.

But while the base has been recaptured, the nearby town of Qayyarah is still held by IS.

The militants overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but have since lost significant ground to Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and training