Civilian killed in IED blast in western Baghdad
A car bomb explosion. File Photo
“A bomb placed under a civilian’s vehicle exploded on Sunday evening while passing at al-Hayakel region in al-Ghazaliya district, causing the driver’s immediate death,” the source told AlSumaria News.
Security troops, according to the source, who asked to remain anonymous, “cordoned off the accident scene and transferred the victim to forensic medicine department.”
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
More than 700 Iraqis were killed and wounded during the month of June as result of violence and armed conflicts, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) which excludes security members deaths. Baghdad ranked the second place with 22 deaths and 88 injuries.
Bombings and armed attacks are seen on on almost a daily basis against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016.
According to observers, IS is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.