Baghdad Iraq: Alcoholics seller killed in IED blast northeast of Baghdad

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Baghdad Iraq/ An alcoholics seller was killed Wednesday when an explosive device fitted beneath his car exploded in northeast Baghdad, according to security sources.

According to security source speaking to Baghdad Today, the explosion took place at Kreyaat region, northeast of the capital. Perpetrators and motives have not been unveiled yet, but attacks against alcoholics stores have been rampant at Iraq’s religiously conservative regions over the past years.

Iraq’s parliament banned the import selling and manufacturing of alcoholics in October 2016, to the dismay of several personal freedoms activists.

An earlier law in 2001 had conditioned that alcoholics sellers be non-Muslims, Iraqi nationals and not less than 21 of age.

Violence and armed conflicts left 297 Iraqis dead and wounded during the month of ِAugust, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq which excludes security members deaths. Baghdad was the most affected province with 45 deaths and 135 injuries.

Baghdad Iraq

The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016. While most of of the explosions and attacks went without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has claimed several incidents.

Some security observers believe that even after IS’s main havens across Iraqi provinces are conquered, the group may still constitute a security threat through sleeper cells and lone wolf attacks.