Updated: Bomb blast kills1, wounds 3 in southern Baghdad

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and 3 were wounded on Wednesday when an explosive device went off in southern Baghdad, a security source said.

The explosive device had been placed near commercial shops in Arab Jabour, south of the capital, Jordan news agency Petra reported, quoting Alaa al-Tamimi, a spokesperson of the interior ministry.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the bombing yet, but Islamic State militants have said they were responsible for several bloody explosions that hit the capital in recent weeks, bringing the governorate municipal and security officials under critics’ fire.

Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State militants who took over large areas of the country in 2014. Baghdad has been witnessing almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security personnel.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) says violence in the country had left 19000 casualties in nine months of 2016.

Observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses.

While losing Mosul could be the severest blow to the group’s existence in Iraq, some observers believe attacks outside the province prove that the extremist group can still pose a security threat.