Iraqi interior minister quits after fatal Baghdad bomb attacks
Iraq’s Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban has stepped down from his position following one of the deadliest ever bombings in the Arab country claimed by the Takfiri Daesh terrorists group.
Ghabban made the announcement at a press conference in the capital, Baghdad, on Tuesday, saying, "I placed my resignation before the prime minister, [Haider al-Abadi].”
On Sunday, a vehicle packed with explosives was detonated in Baghdad’s Shia neighborhood of Karrada while families were shopping for Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Security and medical officials said the attack left at least 213 people dead and more than 200 others wounded.
On the same day, the second explosion occurred at an outdoor market in the Shaab neighborhood of southeastern Baghdad, killing two people.
In a twitter post, Daesh claimed responsibility for the assaults which, it said, were aimed at Shia neighborhoods.
Elsewhere in his Tuesday comments, Ghabban said that the Iraqi government has failed to arrange and organize the activities of the country’s security and intelligence administrations.
Describing checkpoints throughout the capital as "absolutely useless,” he noted that the car bomb came from the eastern province of Diyala and likely successfully navigated a security checkpoint on its way to Baghdad.
After the deadly twin bomb blasts, Abadi announced measures to address security flaws in the capital, including scrapping fake detectors, accelerated installing of scanning devices at entrances to Baghdad, and increased aerial reconnaissance and coordination among security forces.
Sunday’s bomb attacks came one week after Iraqi forces fully liberated the strategic city of Fallujah, situated roughly 69 kilometers west of Baghdad, from Daesh terrorists.
Having suffered heavy losses on the battlefield against Iraqi soldiers, Daesh has recently stepped up its terror attacks across Baghdad.
According to new UN figures, acts of violence in Iraq left a total of 662 people dead and 1,457 others injured in June.
In Baghdad, which was among the hardest-hit areas, some 236 civilians were killed and 742 others wounded.
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