Civilian killed, 3 wounded in southern Baghdad blast
A man looks at the site where a car packed with explosives blew up yesterday, in Hayy al-Shurta, a Shi’ite district in Baghdad, Iraq February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ali al-Mashhadani – RTSZ32H
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) One civilian was killed and three others were injured on Monday when a bomb blast rocked an area in southern Baghdad, a security official was quoted saying.
Baghdad police major Khaled al-Shamri told Petra news agency that an explosive device planted near a fish market in Yousseffiya exploded, killing one civilian and wounding three others.
Violence and armed conflicts left more than 700 Iraqis dead and wounded during the month of June, according to a monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq which excludes security members deaths. Baghdad came second in terms of casualties, with 22 deaths and 88 injuries.
Baghdad has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016. While most of of the explosions attacks went without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has claimed several incidents.
The Iraqi government, currently focused on ousting the group from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, is expected to aim at other IS holdouts afterwards.
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. They believe attacks outside Mosul are designed to make up for the group’s losses there.