Baghdad A car bomb exploded on Tuesday in a busy Shiite area in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 11 people, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks to shake the Iraqi capital. The explosives-laden car went off during the morning rush hour in the main commercial area of the New Baghdad district. It was parked close to outdoor pet and vegetable markets and a traffic police office, a police officer said.
The attack also wounded 31, he added. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The bombing came a day after a wave of attacks targeted Shiite areas in several cities, including Baghdad, killing at least 58 people. Among them were 15 worshippers who died in a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in the same New Baghdad neighborhood where Tuesday’s car bomb struck.
In online statements, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) claimed responsibility for Monday’s mosque attack and another in the Shiite-majority district of Utaifiya in Baghdad, where two car bombs tore through a busy commercial area near a crowded restaurant and killed at least 15 people.
And in two separate tweets, it took credit for car bombings in the revered Shiite city of Karbala and the nearby Hillah city south of Baghdad that together killed at least 23 people on the same day.
The authenticity of the statements and tweets could not be independently verified, but they were posted on a militant website and Twitter accounts frequently used by the group.
No one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks, which bore the hallmarks of Al Qaida-inspired militants.
