Bombings in Baghdad wound 15 people as protests continue
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – At least 15 people were wounded in a series of bombings that rocked different parts of the Iraqi capital, security sources said Sunday. The attacks were carried out using improvised explosive devices (IED).
The explosions occurred Saturday evening in the areas of Al-Ma'alaf, al-Shaab, al-Habibiya, al-Shu'la, Abu-Dashir, al-Mashtal, and al-Za'faraniya, the sources told Kurdistan 24. The attacks wounded 15 people to varying degrees, all of whom were transported to the hospital, the sources added.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, as is usual in such cases. A similar incident took place on February 8, when four bombs exploded in different neighborhoods of Baghdad, wounding upwards of ten people according to reports then.
Deaths as a result of such bombings can often occur and grow in the first few days that follow, as numbers are confirmed and as some of the more seriously wounded victims succumb to their wounds.
The incidents come amid ongoing national unrest as anti-government protesters who first took to the streets in October to demand the expulsion of what they say is a chronically corrupt political elite that has dominated successive Iraqi governments amid persistent low living standards.
On Sunday, Iraqi students held peaceful demonstrations in multiple cities, carrying signs that voiced support for the "legitimate demands" of the protests.
A recent bout of flaring violence came after influential cleric and senior politician Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his militia and supporters to disperse demonstrators in a number of cities in the south.
Confrontations escalated and resulted in the deaths of at least eight protesters, as Sadr's men torched tents at protest camps and fired at unarmed persons, marking one of the deadliest nights of violence against protesters.
Members of various Iraqi security forces have killed at least 550 demonstrators and wounded tens of thousands more, according to official data by parliament's Human Rights Committee. Unofficial estimates range well over 600 deaths and over 20,000 others injured.