News / Iraq

Daesh claims responsibility for Baghdad bomb attacks

Thursday, 25 February 2016 11:33 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 February 2016 2:59 AM ]

An Iraqi policeman checks the damage at a mosque that was destroyed during violence earlier in the month in the town of Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, on January 23, 2016. ©AFP

The Daesh Takfiri militant group has claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks that targeted a Shia mosque as well as a military checkpoint in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and left more than a dozen civilians dead and many more injured.

Daesh terrorists, in a statement posted online, announced that their fellow extremists carried out the attacks in the al-Shu'ala neighborhood of northern Baghdad on Thursday evening.

In one attack, a bomber detonated his explosive-laden belt among people leaving Rasoul al-A'zam Husseiniya, a Shia place of worship, killing 10 people and wounding 34 others.

Another bomber struck the checkpoint at the entrance to Shu'ala, leaving five people, among them three soldiers, dead. At least 14 people also sustained injuries in the act of violence.

Also on Thursday, a soldier was killed and five others injured when unidentified assailants, armed with machine guns, launched an attack in the town of Mada'in, about 20 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

A roadside bomb went off in the eastern Nairiyah neighborhood of the Iraqi capital, killing a civilian and injuring five others.

Additionally, a civilian was killed and seven others injured when a bomb exploded close to a popular restaurant near the Diyala Bridge in southeastern Baghdad.

An improvised explosive device also detonated near an outdoor market in the town of Tarmiyah, situated about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Baghdad.

A member of the Iraqi security forces takes photos of the damage near the al-Jawaher mall in eastern Baghdad the day after a bomb attack on January 12, 2016. ©AFP

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq says a total of 849 Iraqis were killed and 1,450 others injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in January.

According to the UN mission, the number of civilian fatalities stood at 490. Violence also claimed the lives of 359 members of the Iraqi security forces. A great portion of the fatalities was recorded in Baghdad, where 299 civilians were killed.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh Takfiri terrorists began their march through the Iraqi territory in June 2014.

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