A blast in a popular market in Al-Qaim, a city along the border with Syria in Iraq’s western Anbar province, killed three civilians and wounded more than 20 after a relative calm following the defeat of ISIS end of 2017. Member at Anbar Provincial Council Karim al-Karbouli stated to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the vehicle that blasted in Qaim’s popular market was most likely prepared to explode during the celebrations on Wednesday for National Police Day, but the nature of security procedures stood against this plot. Responding to a question on whether this blast bears the imprint of ISIS, he stated that the group’s sleeper cells still exist - there is an intelligence fault that should be addressed, especially that Qaim can’t be accessed without a security inspection. MP Mohammed al-Karbouli, a member of National Axis bloc, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the return of terrorist explosions to liberated regions is a dangerous indicator and demands taking all possible procedures to deal with it. He affirmed that what happened in Qaim is linked to previous attacks in Mosul, Kirkuk, and Tikrit. After defeating ISIS, eyes were at reconstruction, but these explosions mean that these regions need an intelligence and security reinforcement. Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi stressed the necessity of taking serious and urgent steps to halt repeated violations in liberated provinces. Also, Iraqi First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hassan Karim al-Kaabi called on security forces in the country to be firm in dealing with sleeper terrorist cells seeking to spread fear and chaos, and destabilize the country.