BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The hardline Sunni militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on Tuesday morning in central Baghdad that police said killed three people and wounded 27.
The blast occurred near a gathering of workers in Tayaran Square, about a kilometer from a sit-in held by supporters of influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to demand political reforms.
Islamic State, which claimed responsibility in an online statement, also claimed a suicide bombing last Friday that killed 26 people at an amateur soccer game in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad.
At least 60 people were killed earlier this month in an attack further south, in Hilla, when an explosives-laden fuel tanker slammed into an Iraqi security checkpoint.
An apparent escalation of bombings targeting areas outside Islamic State’s primary control in northern and western Iraq suggests that Iraqi government forces may be stretched thin after recent gains against the group.
Analysts in Europe have interpreted recent attacks there, such as last week’s bombings in Brussels or the killings in Paris last November, as a sign that Islamic State was expanding its field of action in response to setbacks in Iraq and Syria.
But Baghdad analysts say the group has long staged indiscriminate suicide bombings and see these attacks as a continuation of that tactic.
(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
The Islamic terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria accepted responsibility for a homicide bombing in Baghdad that has left at least 31 people dead.
Another 58 people were injured in the blast, some very severely, and officials say it’s likely the death toll is going to rise.
Christian bishops in Iraq are now calling for the government to protect Christians who are being killed and driven out of their homes in masses. They’re calling for the government to also provide funding for the thousands of families suddenly displaced by Islamic extremists.
Over 35,000 Christians have been forced to flee the city of Mosul after ISIS threatened to kill them unless they convert to Islam or pay a huge fine. Many of them have fled to Baghdad, where ISIS targets them in attacks.
Christian relief group World Compassion estimates at least 750,000 Christians have been forced to leave their homes since the Islamists began their campaign in northern Iraq.
Bombings aimed at markets in Baghdad has killed at least 23 people.
Local officials say that 40 others were injured, some critically, in the attacks. At least 16 were killed in a packed market in the Sabaa al-Bour section in northern Baghdad while at least 7 died in a bombing at a market in Dora district south of Baghdad. Continue reading →
A series of coordinated bomb attacks have left at least 50 people dead in the Iraqi capital city.
Police and hospital workers tell the BBC that the bombings targeted the daily rush hour. Continue reading →
Terrorist attacks in Baghdad have killed at least 66.
Car bombs placed near busy shopping areas and markets in the Shia portion of the city. The terrorist attack was quickly attributed by government officials as due to increasing sectarian tensions in the city. Continue reading →
A car bomb and mortar attack in Baghdad has killed at least 9 and wounded dozens.
Two people were also killed in Chikuk during a mortar attack. Continue reading →
Car bombs in and around Baghdad killed 14 and wounded over 50 on Thursday.
A car bomb at dawn targeted a government building in Taji and at least 8 of the dead were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a crowded market. The market bomb is responsible for 30 of the wounded. Continue reading →
Police in Baghdad are reporting that 12 people were killed and 29 wounded in a series of bomb attacks.
The biggest blast was a car bomb that exploded outside a busy restaurant in the northern part of the city. Four other bombings struck the city yesterday including one that exploded outside the home of an advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Continue reading →