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70 killed in two Baghdad bomb attacks

Sunday, 28 February 2016 1:30 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 February 2016 5:46 PM ]

People gather at the site of blasts in Baghdad's Sadr City February 28, 2016. (AFP Photo)

Two bomb attacks at a crowded market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have killed at least 70 people, police and medical sources say.

The bombs, which also injured 100 people, went off in the mainly Shia Muslim district of Sadr City on Sunday, the sources said.

Daesh Takfiri militants claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Police said the death toll could rise.

Iraqi police forces patrol a road in the city of Ramadi, February 12, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Earlier in the day, Daesh Takfiri terrorists launched their largest attack in months on the outskirts of the capital, Baghdad, killing at least a dozen Iraqi forces.

Security officials said the terrorists carried out bombing and shooting attacks against a barracks housing security forces in Baghdad’s suburb of Abu Ghraib, which is 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of the city center, on Sunday.

At least 12 security forces were killed and 35 others wounded.

Dozens of militants driving Humvees and pickup trucks with machine guns fixed on them attacked from the nearby Daesh-controlled areas of Garma and Fallujah, army and police sources added.

Official sources said Iraqi security forces repelled the attack. The commander of military operations in western Baghdad, Maj. Gen Saad Harbiya, said the situation is “under control” and a local curfew has been imposed.

A military statement said at least four attackers were killed.

The western suburb of Baghdad has recently been the scene of numerous militant attacks, which have inflicted heavy damage on the area.

On Saturday, nearly 10 people lost their lives and almost three dozen others sustained injuries in a spate of bomb attacks in and around Baghdad.

Daesh has been ravaging the northern and western areas of Iraq ever since June 2014, when it launched a bloody campaign in the country.

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.

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