A string of four bomb attacks rocked Shiite areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing almost 70 people and underscoring the deadly reach of ISIS into Iraq’s capital even as the militants face mounting pressures on their strongholds. ISIL is another name for ISIS, or the Islamic State, which is a Sunni Muslim terror group.
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Attacks by female suicide bombers are rare in Iraq, though they were once more common.
There are now fears that the security situation in Baghdad could degenerate into that of a decade ago, when dozens of people were killed each week in sectarian suicide bombings and Shi’ite death squads carried out reprisal attacks against Sunnis.
Two mentally disabled women wearing suicide vests killed almost 100 people at Baghdad pet markets in early 2008.
And with the ongoing devastating ISIS attacks in Baghdad, the Iraqi government is keeping tens of thousands of troops on hand for the defense of the capitol.
Security forces and residents inspect the scene after a suicide vehicle bombing Tuesday at an outdoor market in Baghdad’s Sadr Ci…
Al-Sadr led anti-government protests last month that peaked with the breaching of the Green Zone, the highly fortified compound in the heart of Baghdad that’s home to many ministries and foreign embassies.
Mourners grieve by coffins of bomb victims, Saad Samed, 28, and his wife Mariam Aqeel, 22, and his sons Mohammed Saad, 7, and Ahmed Saad, 5, who killed at an open-air market in Baghdad’s northern neighborhood of Shaab, during their funeral procession at the holy shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Those front lines hadn’t moved significantly for more than a year and a half, but the attack came as Iraqi army forces were beginning to build up for a Mosul offensive farther south. Commanders say they are seeing an increase in hit-and-run attacks with no apparent strategic objective other than to kill. Iraqi security officials say they are concerned political instability is distracting from the fight against IS.
Hashimi said that’s a calculated move by the Islamic State to push Sadr’s supporters, already frustrated with the government, to cause further unrest. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to reporters. But Baghdad’s forces have since regained significant ground from IS with the backing of US-led air support and training, retaking the cities of Tikrit and Ramadi as well as numerous towns and villages.
In the interview, Votel made no predictions about the demise of the Islamic State.
The dead included six civilians and eight security forces while 27 Iraqi troops were wounded. But the Islamic State has not confined its latest attacks only to Baghdad.
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Warren said ISIS has lost about 45 percent of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and 20 percent of the land it once did in Syria.
