Up to 36 people were killed and 100 others wounded Tuesday in a series of bomb attacks targeting Shiite neighborhoods in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, security sources said. Muqtada al-Sadr, a powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric who used to support Abadi, has led protests in the Green Zone, calling on the government to form a new cabinet.
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Sunday’s spectacular attack in the town of Taji, about 20 kilometres north of Baghdad, saw a suicide auto bombing at the facility’s main gate, followed by several ISIS fighters breaking into the plant where they clashed with security forces for hours before the attackers were repelled.
Two auto bombs and one suicide attack in Baghdad combined claimed more than 70 lives on Tuesday.
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.
Dpa could not independently authenticate the claim, but it was similar to previous such claims issued by the extremist group. The attacks have sparked anger in the streets over the government’s failure to ensure security.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the arrest of the security official responsible for the Shaab area, his office said.
Last week the militant group carried out triple vehicle bombings in northern Baghdad, killing at least 94 people, another 12 people died in attacks on a police station west of the capital as well as a gas plant to the north of the city.
Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said it was carried out by a female suicide bomber, while a police colonel said a roadside bombing was followed by the suicide attack.
The attacks bring the toll for violence in and near Baghdad to more than 145 people killed in just seven days.
The sources, who spoke to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to fears of reprisal, said the attack targeted the “4000 Market” in al-Shaab neighborhood.
If successful, Rutba will be the latest victory for Iraqi forces in Anbar. Later on in the video, several IS fighters are seen standing over a weapons cache and several military uniforms which the fighters claim belonged to Iraqi soldiers and Shiite militiamen who had previously patrolled the area.
That afternoon in northeast Baghdad, a suicide bomber targeted a restaurant in the Habibiya neighborhood, killing nine and wounding 18. Iraqi troops have pushed Islamic State fighters from Anbar’s provincial capital, Ramadi, and other towns in recent months.
Sunday’s spectacular attack in the town of Taji, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Baghdad, saw a suicide vehicle bombing at the facility’s main gate, followed by several IS fighters breaking into the plant where they clashed with security forces for hours before the attackers were repelled.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of the extremist Islamic State group that has been behind recent deadly attacks in the Iraqi capital and beyond.
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Security has improved somewhat in the capital in recent years, even as Islamic State fighters seized swathes of the country nearly to the outskirts of Baghdad’s ramparts.
