UPDATED: 2 killed, 4 wounded in northern, eastern Baghdad blasts
People look at a burned vehicle at the site of car bomb attack in a busy square at Baghdad’s sprawling Sadr City district, in Iraq January 2, 2017. (Reuters)
The sources said a bomb fitted beneath the car of a member of al-Hashd al-Ashaeri (tribal mobilization) exploded and killed him immediately upon exiting his residence in Raoud district.
Another bomb killed one and wounded four near a popular market in Obaidi, east of the capital.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the bombing yet, but Islamic State militants have said they were responsible for several bloody explosions that hit the capital in recent weeks, bringing the governorate municipal and security officials under critics’ fire.
Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State militants who took over large areas of the country in 2014. Baghdad has been witnessing almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security personnel.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said violence in the country had left 19000 casualties in nine months of 2016.
Observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses.
While losing Mosul could be the severest blow to the group’s existence in Iraq, some observers believe attacks outside the province prove that the extremist group can still pose a security threat.