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ISIS has claimed responsibility for three separate bomb explosions that rocked …
Bombs Rock Baghdad in Deadliest Day of Violence This Year, Killing 93
Ahmed Al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images
ISIS has claimed responsibility for three separate bomb explosions that
rocked Baghdad today, killing at least 93 people and injuring at least
165, making it the deadliest day of violence in the Iraqi capital this
year, according to The Associated Press.
The largest of the car bombings killed 63 people at an outdoor market in
the Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Sadr City. The bomb was in a pickup
truck loaded with fruits and vegetables.
Later in the day, two separate car bombs in northern Baghdad killed at
least 30 and injured 80 others. The first bomb exploded at a police
station in the northwestern Kadhimiyah neighborhood, while another
struck in the northern neighborhood of Jamiya.
Major General Gary Volesky, the head of U.S ground forces in Iraq,
described today’s deadly bombings as “desperate acts” by ISIS, which
keeps losing territory it once controlled in Iraq.
In a video briefing from Baghdad, Volesky told Pentagon reporters, “As
we've seen, as the enemy loses more and more terrain, they resort to
some of these desperate acts. The security forces in Baghdad have the
situation under control, but our condolences go out to those families.”
The Pentagon has said that 40 percent of ISIS-held territory in Iraq and
Syria has been retaken with recent battlefield victories in the Iraqi
city of Ramadi in Iraq, and Al Shaddadi in eastern Syria. U.S. military
advisers and trainers have been working with the Iraqi military to
prepare it for a long-expected offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq's second
largest city, that fell under ISIS control in mid-2014.
Volesky said the U.S. military in Baghdad has not changed its security
posture in Baghdad as a result of the bombings. "Force protection is our
first priority, and so we are fine here,” he said. Nor are there any
indications from the Iraqis that they intend to reposition forces
currently fighting ISIS back to Baghdad. "Our assessment is they are
able to handle the issue as they see it," Volesky said.
Sunni-dominated ISIS often targets Shiite Muslims to incite further
sectarian violence in Iraq that it feels will draw more supporters to
its side.
The embattled government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi has
been stymied in undertaking reforms designed to replace ministers
affiliated with the Shiite parties that dominate Iraq's political system
with technocrats. Two weeks ago, supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada al
Sadr stormed into the secure Green Zone and rushed into the Iraqi
parliament to protest the planned moves.
Al Sadr is a powerful Shiite cleric whose power base is Sadr City, the
large Shiite Muslim neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. The controversial
anti-American cleric continues to dominate the Iraqi political scene as
his party controls a large number of seats in the Iraqi Parliament,
militias affiliated with his movement were also involved in early
efforts to fight ISIS.
According to United Nations statistics,
in the month of April a total of 741 Iraqis were killed and another
1,374 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and combat with ISIS.
410 of those killed were civilians and 973 civilians were injured. The
majority of the casualties occurred in the Baghdad area.
“It pains us to see the continuing bloodletting and loss of life,
particularly among civilians who are paying a high price as a result of
bombings and the armed clashes”, Jan Kubiš, the Special Representative
of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, said in a press
release announcing the latest statistics. “Terrorists have used suicide
attacks to target cafes, places of worship, pilgrims and markets in a
wicked, unrelenting campaign to cause maximum casualties and inflict
untold suffering on the population."
ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent and "This Week with
George Stephanopoulos" anchor Martha Raddatz will report from Baghdad
all this week.
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