Kurdish Peshmerga forces took precautionary measures and strengthened their defense lines within the province of Kirkuk, as a Kurdish official announced that they are waiting for the international coalition and the Iraqi army to begin the liberation of the province of Hawija. Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad hours after a violent explosion hit the Karrada district of central Baghdad.
Casualties from two suicide bombings that hit central Baghdad early Tuesday have stood at 62, according to a local official. Sputnik agency quoted Mohamed al-Rubaiy, deputy chairman of the security committee at Baghdad council, saying that was the final toll from the explosions that hit Shohadaa Bridge and Karrada areas.
The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing in Karrada which Rubaiy said killed 10 people and wounded 32 others late Monday. The bombing was carried out by suicide bomber who drove a booby-trapped car into a crowded square of Karrada near an ice cream shop.
Rubaiy said the other bombing in Shohadaa, which occurred near a government agency, killed seven people and wounded eleven others. Violence and armed conflicts claimed the lives of 317 Iraqis and caused injuries to 403 others during the month of April, according to a monthly United Nations count.
According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Nineveh, where U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops are caught up in battles against Islamic State militants in Mosul since October, was the most affected governorate, with 276 casualties (153 killed, 123 injured). Baghdad Governorate followed with 55 killed and 179 injured. Salahuddin came third, with 15 killed and 43 injured.
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. Karrada had been the scene of one of Baghdad’s deadliest attacks in 2016 when separate suicide bombings left 300 people dead in one day. The incident forced the resignation of Iraq’s former interior minister.
In the same context, Seven people were killed and six others were wounded in two separate gun and bomb attacks in Diyala, DPA reported Tuesday. Islamic State members attacked a checkpoint in Qarra Tabba, north of Baqubah, killing four members of the Popular Mobilization Units and wounding two others, the agency said, quoting Iraqi security sources.
In a separate incident, a bomb exploded near a mosque in Tawakkol village, Maqdadiah, northeast of Baqubah. The explosion killed three of the congregation on their way out of the mosque and wounded four others. Violence and armed conflicts claimed the lives of 317 Iraqis and caused injuries to 403 others during the month of April, according to a monthly United Nations count. Islamic State, almost losing its main holdout in Mosul to a security operation running since October, has been escalating attacks at other provinces where it still has a presence.
Government and tribal forces have launched occasional operations over the past few months to clear border regions between Diyala and Salahuddin, killing dozens of militants. IS fighters have also responded with occasional attacks targeting troops, leaving several deaths.
Officials from towns still held by IS since 2014 have pressed the Iraqi government to hasten with security operations to retake those regions, but the Iraqi government is giving most attention to its battle in Mosul, Islamic State’s largest stronghold in Iraq.
On the political side, Chairperson of Iraq’s National Coalition Ammar Al Hakim warned of the prevalence of atheism in Iraqi society. He stressed the need for insisting on the keeping the Islamic teachings not to allow the strange ideas dominating the Iraqi community.