BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Islamic State group militants killed 30 people at a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad, striking the area with suicide bombers, gunfire and mortar rounds, an Iraqi security spokesman said Friday. The overnight attack also wounded 50 people, the Joint Operations Command spokesman said in a statement. The Sayyid Mohammed shrine was first targeted with mortar rounds, after which suicide bombers arrived at the shrine and opened fire, the statement said. Two […]
Tag: Baghdad
Iraq mourns after more than 200 killed in Baghdad bombing
by W.G. Dunlop BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqis on Monday mourned the more than 200 people killed by a jihadist-claimed suicide car bombing that was among the deadliest ever attacks in the country. The blast, which the Islamic State group said it carried out, hit the Karrada district early Sunday as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week’s holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The attack sparked […]
Tears, smoke and loss at site of deadly Baghdad blast
by Ammar Karim BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — A weeping Zainab Mustafa brought a photo of her husband to the still-smoldering site of a bloody bombing in Baghdad Sunday, seeking word of him and their two missing children. The three had gone out the night before to buy clothes for the upcoming holiday marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and Mustafa has not heard from them since. The suicide car bombing […]
IS-claimed Baghdad blast kills at least 119
by Ammar Karim and Safa Majeed BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group ripped through a busy Baghdad shopping district Sunday, killing at least 119 people in the deadliest attack this year in Iraq’s capital. The blast hit the Karrada district early in the day as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week’s holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. It […]
Iraqi civilians drown fleeing Falluja as city nearly encircled
(Reuters) A boat carrying fleeing civilians across a river from the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja sank on Saturday, killing at least four people, as pro-Baghdad forces said they had the city almost completely encircled. Two children, their mother and a man drowned crossing the 300-metre (1,000-feet) wide Euphrates, one the few escape routes left for civilians hoping to leave the besieged town as the war against the militants intensifies. Nine other people believed to […]
Iraq forces poised for Fallujah assault
by Ammar Karim with Layal Abou Rahal in Beirut BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Elite Iraqi troops were poised Sunday to assault one of the Islamic State group’s most emblematic bastions, Fallujah, as the jihadists counterattacked in both Iraq and neighboring Syria. The fighting prompted a new exodus of thousands of desperate civilians and deep concern for the many more trapped in the battlegrounds. The overall commander of the Fallujah operation, Abdelwahab al-Saadi, said Saturday it […]
Iraq forces killed at least 2 protesters: officials
by Ammar Karim Baghdad, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi forces killed at least two protesters while defending Baghdad’s Green Zone, officials said on Saturday, as the troubled country’s leaders warned against further escalation. The two supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr were the first casualties of the months-old protest movement started by the young cleric to push for political change. They were interred in the holy city of Najaf, which is home to the world’s largest cemetery where […]
Baghdad attacks kill at least 25 people
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – Attacks including an Islamic State group suicide bombing killed at least 25 people in Baghdad Tuesday, the latest in a series of deadly blasts to hit Iraq’s capital, officials said. The attacks also wounded at least 71 people, officials said. The deadliest attack hit the Shaab area in northern Baghdad, killing at least 15. Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said it was carried out by a female suicide bomber, while a police […]
Suicide raid on Iraq gas plant kills seven
Baghdad, Iraq (AFP)—Suicide attackers broke into a gas plant north of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least seven people and setting fire to gas tanks, officials said. The attack on the Taji plant, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital, took place around 6 a.m. (0300 GMT). Eight suicide bombers broke into the gas plant and blew up a car bomb at one of its entrances, interior ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said […]
Baghdad market bombing claimed by IS kills 64
by Salam Faraj BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — A car bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed at least 64 people Wednesday at a market in a Shiite area of Baghdad, in the single deadliest attack this year in the capital. The blast comes as the government is locked in a political crisis that some have warned could undermine the fight against IS. The bombing, which hit the frequently targeted Sadr City area of northern […]
Iraqi protesters end Green Zone sit-in for now after issuing demands
(Reuters) Protesters camped out in Baghdad’s Green Zone for 24 hours left the heavily fortified government district on Sunday after issuing demands for political reform but they pledged to return by the end of the week to keep up the pressure. Iraq has endured months of wrangling prompted by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s attempt to replace party-affiliated ministers with technocrats as part of an anti-corruption drive. A divided parliament has failed to approve the […]
Two suicide bombers kill 15 at Shi’ite mosque in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) — Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a Shi’ite mosque in Baghdad on Thursday (February 25), killing at least 15 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State militants. Fifty other people were wounded in the blast in the predominantly Shi’ite Shuala neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital, police and medical sources said. The first bomber detonated his vest inside the mosque and the second blew himself up when security forces gathered […]
