Former militiaman killed in bomb blast south of Baghdad
Photos shared across social networks show pillows of smoke following a bomb blast in central Baghdad
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A former militia member died Tuesday when a bomb placed under his vehicle went off in southern Baghdad, according to a local police source.
IkhNews quoted the source saying that a former member of the Sahwa (Awakening) Councils died when a bomb fitted beneath his vehicle exploded on his way out of his home in Hur Ragab south of the capital.
Sahwa Councils were volunteer forces formed to combat al-Qaeda after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
One-hundred and fourteen Iraqi civilians were killed, while 244 others were wounded as result of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts during the month of October, according to a monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, coming in the first place with 177 civilian casualties (38 killed, 139 injured). Anbar province followed with 36 killed and 55 injured, and then Kirkuk with 18 killed and 33 injured.
The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016. Though most of the daily bombings go without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has declared it had been behind many.
Iraq declared its territories Islamic State-free earlier this month by retaking the group’s very last haven: Anbar’s western city of Rawa.