Baghdad: A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car on Monday in a commercial area in Baghdad, killing at least 12 civilians, officials said.
The attack in the capital’s eastern Shiite-dominated New Baghdad neighbourhood also wounded at least 38 other people, a police officer said. Police earlier said it was a parked car bomb.
A medical official confirmed the casualities. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.
The blast left at least five other vehicles in flames on a busy commercial street during evening rush hour, the sources said.
Unverified photos published online showed a plume of dark smoke rising above the site of the explosion.
Security has gradually improved in Baghdad, which was the target of daily bombings a decade ago, though attacks against the security forces and civilians are still frequent.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of Daesh, which controls key areas in the country’s west and north. Commercials and public places in Shiite-dominated areas are among the most frequent targets for the terrorists seeking to undermine government efforts to maintain security inside the capital.
The group has recently increased attacks in and around Baghdad as government forces backed by US-led air strikes have pushed Daesh back on a number of fronts in recent months, clawing back territory seized by the extremists during their sweep across northern and western Iraq in 2014.
Late on Saturday night, suicide attacks targeted security forces in two Baghdad suburbs, killing 14 people and wounding dozens. A day earlier, a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in a southwestern suburb killed 13 worshippers and wounded 35 others, a police officer said.
