Baghdad: Militants unleashed a wave of attacks on Thursday targeting Shiite areas in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing at least 38 people and wounding dozens, officials said.
The deadliest attack took place when two parked car-bombs exploded simultaneously in a commercial area in the northern Dolaie neighborhood, killing 14 civilians and wounding 34 others, a police officer said.
In the eastern neighborhood of Talibiyah, a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police check point, killing at least 12 people, another police officer said. The dead in that attack included seven policemen and five civilians, he added. At least 28 other people were wounded.
Six other civilians were killed and 16 wounded in another car bomb explosion on a commercial street in the northern Hurriyah district, police said.
And in the northern Shula neighborhood, six civilians were killed and 18 wounded when mortar rounds rained down on a residential area, police added.
Medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information to the media.
The heavily guarded capital has been under nearly daily attacks by Sunni militants who have overrun vast areas in western and northern Iraq (as well as neighboring Syria) since early this year. Daesh, an Al Qaida breakaway group, and other militant groups have vowed to destabilise and eventually take over Baghdad.
Thursday’s explosions have brought the death toll from attacks since Sunday to at least 150 people, mostly in Baghdad, according to an Associated Press tally. No group has taken credit for Thursday’s attacks.
