2 killed in Iraq's Ramadi as team defuses explosive device

A British contractor working for a U.S. de-mining firm and an Iraqi policeman were both killed Monday in a bomb blast in Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial security source said.

The incident took place when a team affiliated with the firm and Iraqi policemen attempted to defuse an explosive device in a booby-trapped house in the district of al-Mal'ab in southern Ramadi, 110 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blast wounded another contractor and two other policemen, the source said, without providing further details concerning the nationality of the other contractor.

The firm, Janus Global Operations Inc., started working in Ramadi in April after signing a contract to clear thousands of roadside bombs and booby-trapped buildings left behind by extremist militants from the Islamic State (IS) group.

Last December, Iraqi security forces supported by U.S.-led coalition aircrafts regained control of Ramadi after forcing IS militants out of the city.

However, bomb defusing and de-mining operations continued in subsequent months, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced people to safely return back to their homes.

Source : XINHUA