One killed, 3 injured in southern Baghdad bomb blast

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) A bomb blast killed one civilian and wounded three others southwest of Baghdad on Friday, security sources were quoted saying.

Alghad Press website quoted the sources saying the blast took place near a popular market in Suwaib region, southwest of the capital.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) has said that violence in the country lef 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.

While several blasts are not followed by a claim of responsibility, 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.

It is believed that Islamic State members are escalating attacks in Baghdad and other provinces to shift attention from, nd 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, Islamic State will continue to represent a security threat through guerrilla-style and lone-wolf attacks waged by dormant cells.