The attack, the worst to hit the Iraqi capital this year, was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, but the demonstrators blamed Iraq’s political leaders. It was parked by a man who had quickly disappeared into the crowd, said Karim Salih, a 45-year-old grocer who escaped injury.
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Three militants gunned down coffee shop patrons in central Iraq on Friday morning before later blowing themselves up and security personnel, killing at least 20 people, officials said, in the latest deadly attacks claimed by ISIS in the country. Commercial and public places in Shiite-dominated neighborhoods are among the most frequent targets for Islamic State militants, who want to undermine government efforts to maintain security in the capital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the wake the attack.
The station is a major police facility in a relatively active and hostile area, officials said.
Protesters wave a giant Iraq flag as they chant anti-government slogans during a demonstration against the security forces’ failure to protect them from vehicle bombs at the site of yesterday’s auto bomb attack in the Iraqi capital’s eastern district of Sadr City, Iraq, Thursday, May 12, 2016.
Iraqi forces have regained significant ground from IS, which overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014. Back-to-back bombings on February 28, also in Sadr City, killed 73 people.
Five people, including three policemen, were killed and 12 others injured in the attacks, medic Mahmoud Latif told Anadolu Agency. “We hold them responsible”.
In addition to defending the capital from IS, Iraq’s security forces have also had to contend with mass protests in recent weeks led by a firebrand Shiite cleric demanding wide-ranging political reforms. Thousands of followers of Muqtada al-Sadr breached Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone last month and ransacked parliament, though they later withdrew from the area peacefully.
Mosul is considered one of the most important battles in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq.
As the extremist group continues to be pushed back in Anbar and Ninevah provinces, Henman expects attacks like Wednesday’s bombings to increase in Baghdad and other territory far from the front-line fighting.
“ISIS has receded somewhat, militarily, they don’t have a … standing army to hold territory”, Sowell said.
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A report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq estimated that 741 Iraqis were killed and 1,374 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts in April across Iraq.
