Five explosions rock Baghdad, 21 casualties reported
All attacks took place within an approximate four-hour window.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A series of bombings shook separate areas of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Sunday evening, resulting in the deaths of seven civilians and injury to 14 others.
“An improvised explosive device [IED] exploded in Sadr City near a vendor’s stand, killing three and injuring five others with varying severity,” a security source told local media outlets on the fifth and deadliest of incidents.
The area is a stronghold of forces loyal to Muqtada al Sadr, the head of the political coalition that won the most votes in Iraq’s May election and is named after his father.
All the attacks took place within an approximate four-hour window.
The first explosion occurred in Aden Square near Kadhimiya neighborhood, killing two people and wounding four others, another source told Shafaaq.
According to the same source, one person was killed, and two others were injured after another IED went off inside a minibus transporting passengers in the Habibiyah neighborhood immediately south of Sadr City.
He added that the third bomb exploded in al-Shu’la district, north of the capital, killing two people and wounding two.
An explosion also hit shopping areas in southern Baghdad’s Turath neighborhood, leading to three injuries.
Deadly blasts and explosions occasionally hit Baghdad. In June, a bombing at a mosque in the capital’s Sadr City neighborhood was reported to have left at least 18 killed and over 90 wounded.
Hours after the seemingly coordinated attacks, the Islamic State (IS) took responsibility for the bombings on their website.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany