IED blast kills one, injures four, southeastern Baghdad
A bomb blast in Baghdad.
“A bomb, placed near a market in al-Wardiya region in Madaen district, exploded on Wednesday leaving one person killed and four others wounded,” a security source told Al-Ghad Press.
“Security troops cordoned off the blast spot preventing approach of civilians,” the source added.
According to United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), violence in the country left 1115 casualties, excluding security members, during March. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 84 deaths and 246 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count.
Islamic State militants said they had been behind some bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, leaving casualties among civilians and security troops. However, several blasts are not followed by a claim of responsibility
IS members are believed to be escalating attacks in Baghdad and other provinces to shift attention from, and make up for losses in, the city of Mosul, where a U.S.-backed security campaign has been running since October to recapture IS’s largest stronghold in Iraq. Security commentators are afraid that, even after the recapture of Mosul, IS will continue to represent a security threat through guerrilla-style and lone-wolf attacks waged by dormant cells.