The Iraqi capital of Baghdad and the province of Basra witnessed, on Friday evening, a series of car bombings that killed dozens of civilians in addition to the number of employees of the security services. Basra Operations Command announced that the two booby-trapped cars came from Al-Rutba area in Anbar province, as the explosion caused deaths and injuries. Meanwhile, A spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, Brigadier General Saad Maan, said Friday that 28 people, including members of the Iraqi police and army, were killed and wounded when a car bomb exploded in Baghdad.
Two booby­trapped cars exploded at a security checkpoint in southern Baghdad, shortly after two explosions occurred in a checkpoint in southern city of Basra, the interior ministry said on Friday. Ministry spokesman Brigadier Saad Maan said four policemen were injured Abu Dasher entrance south of the capital.
Maan added police at the checkpoint saw the two cars attempting to pass the checkpoint, but policemen confronted them. Earlier, police said three people were killed in two explosions caused by two booby­trapped cars in Iraq's southern city of Basra. The first car exploded at a checkpoint at the entrance of Basra killing three persons and injuring three others, a police source told KUNA in Baghdad.
A civilian was killed and three others were injured due to a bomb blast that occurred near a market in southern Baghdad, a police source said on Friday. “An IED placed near a cattle market in Suwayeb region, western Baghdad, exploded on Friday, leaving a civilian killed and three others injured,” the source, who preferred anonymity, told AlSumaria News.
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 count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). The total figure of victims signalled a drop from 1115 victims in March.
Nineveh, where U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops are caught up in battles against Islamic State militants in Mosul since October, came on top of the most affected governorate, with 276 casualties (153 killed, 123 injured). Baghdad Governorate came next with 55 killed and 179 injured. Salahuddin came third, with 15 killed and 43 injured.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014. IS is believed to have begun escalation of attacks outside Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October
In the same context, A suicide bombing near the oil-rich city of Basra killed at least eight people as the Islamic State group took the fight against Iraqi forces deep into the country's south, a military commander said Saturday.
Five civilians and three troops were killed when the bomber blew up his explosives-laden car on Friday at a checkpoint north of Basra just behind a bus waiting to be cleared, said chief of the Basra Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Jamil al-Shimmari. At least 41 others were wounded, al-Shimmari said.
A second attacker drove down a desert road after the explosion and security forces killed him, al-Shimmari added. Basra, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, is home to about 70 percent of the country's proven oil reserves of 153.1 billion barrels. Located on the Persian Gulf and bordering Kuwait and Iran, the city is also Iraq's only outlet to the sea and the hub for most of the country's oil exports, with 3.23 million barrels exported from Basra last month. In an online statement, IS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted Shiites.
The group also claimed in the statement responsibility for the double suicide bombings in Baghdad overnight that killed at least 19 people and wounded 33. The attacks come as Iraqi forces, backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are slowly moving in on the last neighborhoods held by IS militants in the northern city of Mosul. IS now only holds a handful of neighborhoods in that key city, including the Old City where the most intense battles of the operation are expected to play out.
Regarding operations in Mousl, Iraqi troops have gained control on part of the biggest west Mosul district and killed a number of Islamic State militants in an airstrike. In statements on Friday, the War Media Cell quoted the Nineveh Operations Commander, Lt.Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, as saying that the 9th armored division retaken the northern part of 17 Tamuz (July 17) in the western side of Mosul.
In other statements, WMC said dozens of IS fighters were killed in airstrikes in western Mosul. Iraqi fighter jets launched several airstrikes that destroyed booby-trapping workshop and vehicles and killed dozens of militants on Rifaie district.
“An IS headquarter and booby-trapping workshop were destroyed, while dozens of militants were killed on al-Zanjili district,” the statement added. Iraqi forces have been sweeping through northwestern neighborhoods over the past two weeks in a way to invade the strategic Old City.
More than 16,000 IS members were killed since beginning of operations in Mosul, Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, the military spokesperson, said in a press conference on Tuesday declaring that 89.5 percent of western Mosul was liberated with only a few districts remaining under the militants’ control. Eastern Mosul was liberated in January after three months of battles. Another major offensive was launched in February to retake the western side.