Baghdad bomb attacks kill 30 at eve of 2017

A total of 30 people were killed and 59 others wounded on Saturday in a wave of bomb explosions which ripped through the Iraqi capital of Baghdad at the eve of the New Year of 2017.

The deadliest attacks occurred in the morning as two suicide bombers attacked a crowded car spare part market in Sinak area in downtown Baghdad, leaving 28 people killed and 43 others injured, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Later in the day, the twin suicide attacks were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group, which frequently claimed responsibility for bloody attacks targeting areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

In a separate incident, a booby-trapped car detonated at the sunset near traffic police office at Baghdad al-Jadida neighborhood in southeastern the capital, killing a civilian and wounding nine others, the source said.

Also in the evening, sporadic attacks of five roadside bombs struck the Shiite neighborhood of Shulla in northwestern Baghdad, leaving a civilian killed and seven others wounded, the source added.

The attacks came as security measures were intensified across Baghdad, and the authorities have partially or totally blocked several main thoroughfares in eastern and western parts of the city, where thousands of people are expected to gather to celebrate the New Year event.

Terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts killed 2,885 Iraqis and wounded 1,380 others in November across Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said.

The attacks also came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition is carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S., which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.

source: Xinhua