News / Iraq

Iraqi court hands death sentences to six Daesh militants over bloody bombing

Monday, 25 June 2018 1:01 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 25 June 2018 2:11 PM ]

This file picture shows a view of the Central Criminal Court of Iraq in the capital Baghdad.

A court in Iraq has handed down death sentences to six members of the foreign-sponsored Takfiri Daesh terrorist group over their involvement in a bomb attack in the country’s southern province of Dhi Qar, which claimed the lives of dozens of civilians and left many more injured last September.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Ghad Press news agency that the criminal court in Dhi Qar issued the verdicts on Sunday, noting that all convicts were Iraqi nationals.

At least 60 people were killed and dozens more wounded in two gun-and-car bomb attacks near the city of Nassiriyah on September 14, 2017.

The attacks started with unidentified assailants opening fire inside a restaurant on the main highway that links the capital Baghdad with the southern provinces.

Shortly afterwards, an explosives-laden car targeted a security checkpoint in the same area.

The Daesh terrorist group later claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack at a police checkpoint on a highway near the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, Iraq, on September 14, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Yahya al-Nassiri, the province's governor, said the majority of the victims were Iranian pilgrims who were inside the restaurant.

On December 9, 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against Daesh in the Arab country.

Seven months later, Abadi formally declared victory over Daesh extremists in Mosul, which served as the terrorists’ main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.

In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19 last year.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

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