Four people killed, injured in two bomb blasts in Baghdad
Firemen stand near a blast site in the Iraqi capital Baghdad
Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – Four people were killed and injured Tuesday in two bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a security source was quoted as saying.
The source told Baghdad Today news website that a bomb exploded on Tuesday afternoon at al-Rashidiya neighborhood, north of Baghdad, leaving one person dead and two others injured.
“Also, a member of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) breathed his last after a bomb fixed to his car exploded in Bismayah city in southern Baghdad,” the source said.
He added that ambulances rushed to the blast sites and carried the bodies to the forensic medicine department, and the injured to hospital for treatment.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The surge in violence between armed groups and government forces has resulted in over 3 million internally displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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.
According to the monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), a total of 69 civilians, excluding police personnel, were killed, while 142 others were wounded in December due to acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict across the country.