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Several civilian killed, 21 others injured in car bomb explosion in Iraq's Baghdad

Thursday, 15 April 2021 5:06 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 15 April 2021 6:00 PM ]

People gather around destroyed vehicles at the scene of an explosion in the Habibiya district of Sadr City, a suburb of Iraq's capital city of Baghdad, on April 15, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

At least five civilians have lost their lives and nearly two dozen others sustained injuries when a powerful explosion ripped through a crowded area in the eastern flank of the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad.

A source with the Iraqi Interior Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the blast occurred on Thursday afternoon, when a car bomb went off near a marketplace in the al-Habibiyah area of Sadr City.

The source added that the huge explosion injured 21 people, destroyed several nearby shops and set fire to five passenger cars.

Iraqi security forces blocked the roads leading to the blast site, while ambulances evacuated the casualties to nearby hospitals and medical centers, the source noted.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the deadly attack, but such assaults bear the hallmarks of those carried out by remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

One killed, many wounded in terrorist attack north of Baghdad

At least a woman has been killed and 30 other people sustained injuries after an explosion hit an area near the al-Aimmah bridge north of Baghdad, according to Iraqi sources.

Iraqi President Barham Salih strongly condemned the Thursday car bomb explosion in Baghdad in a post published on his official Twitter account.

الانفجار الإرهابي ضد المواطنين الآمنين في سوق الحبيبية ببغداد ونحن في حرمة الشهر الفضيل، يؤكد خسة الجماعات الظلامية ومحاولاتها اليائسة لاستهداف امننا واستقرارنا واعادتنا لفترات ماضية. نقف بحزم ضد هذه المحاولات، وعلينا دعم وتعزيز اجهزتنا الأمنية المُضحية في مكافحة خلايا الارهاب.
— Barham Salih (@BarhamSalih) April 15, 2021

“The terrorist explosion against ordinary citizens in the al-Habibiya market of Baghdad, as we are in the holy month [of Ramadan], confirms the brazenness of terror groups and their desperate attempts to target our security and stability and push us back into dark days of the past,” he tweeted.

Salih added, “We stand firmly against such attempts. We must support and strengthen our heroic security service in its combat against terrorist cells.”

Bomb attacks have become rare incidents in Baghdad since the defeat of Daesh, announced by Iraq in December 2017, but sporadic attacks by those lonked to the terror outfit are reported.

MP: Evidence indicates Mossad's involvement in Baghdad explosion, attack on PMU forces

Meanwhile, Hassan Salem, an Iraqi lawmaker affiliated to the anti-terror Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq group – which is part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), said evidence indicates the involvement of Israel’s Mossad spy agency in Baghdad’s car bomb attack as well as the attack on the 30th Brigade of the PMU fighters in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.