Despite a series of deadly bombings in Baghdad killing more than 200 people in the past week, a USA military spokesman in the Iraqi capital told reporters Wednesday that no additional us troops are needed to bolster security and protect assets like the us embassy.
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Militants loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr sealed off the district and mounted guard on government buildings after the blast.
Later in the afternoon Tuesday, a suicide vehicle bombing hit a crowded outdoor market in Sadr City, killing 18 people and wounding 35 others.
As per the Islamic State statement, the attack was been carried out by an Iraqi who targeted members of Shiite militias.
A third bomb attack later hit the district of Sadr City, killing at least 19 people and injuring 17 others.
President Obama announced at the Pentagon in December that the US -led coalition had taken back 40 percent of ISIS-held territory in Iraq. In a statement on Tuesday, Sadr called the recent spate of bombings “the clearest evidence that your government has become incapable of protecting you and providing you with security”.
One of the bombings Tuesday struck an outdoor market in the heavily Shiite district of Sadr City, a frequent bombing target. Iraqi security officials say they are concerned political instability is distracting from the fight against the Islamic State. “These string of attacks by IS is latest reminder of the danger that this group poses to all Iraqis and the importance of Iraqi leaders from all communities, working together against a common enemy”, he said. Warren said that the military victory will deny ISIS “a critical support zone”. The town sits just south of a key Islamic State-controlled border crossing with neighboring Syria used to ferry fighters and supplies to Islamic State-held territory in Iraq.
Police sources said they’d defused another auto bomb in Sadr City near a popular restaurant, while a suicide bomber in the same area was apprehended by Sadr’s militias. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
“Today’s sickening attacks, carried out in daytime in areas well known to be frequented by civilians such as busy markets, display a total disregard for the lives of civilians and the fundamental principles of worldwide humanitarian law”.
The attacks have cranked up pressure on Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s prime minister, to resolve a political crisis or risk losing control of parts of Baghdad even as the military wages a counteroffensive against ISIL in Iraq’s north and west with the help of a US-led coalition.
Initial investigations revealed the attacker was a female, he said.
The deadliest attack hit the Sadr City area in northern Baghdad, where a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle, killing at least 21 people, security and medical officials said.
Islamic State were driven out of Daquq previous year but left behind hundreds of improvised explosive devices.
“If ISIS can again provoke that kind of sectarian blood-letting.it could cripple Abadi’s regime and splinter Iraq”, Blanche said.
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Further deadly auto bomb attacks hit the south-eastern al-Amin district and the religiously mixed al-Rashid and Yusufiyah areas south of the city.
