Baghdad triple suicide attack kills dozens
Baghdad was under partial emergency lockdown after ISIS militants killed at least 44 people in a series of coordinated car bombs and gun attacks. Eastern, western and southern districts of the Iraqi capital were hit in one of the deadliest attacks on the city so far. The attacks took place at a military barrack and two markets in eastern and southern provinces.
The Iraqi government's offensive in Mosul, one of ISIS's last remaining strongholds in Iraq has cut off the groups supply lines and has made them increasingly vulnerable. Experts assess that the bombings could be a desperate retaliation to the situation in Mosul.
In the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, ISIS militants drove a car loaded with explosives into an army barrack in Abu Gharib killing at least 17 people and wounding over 35. The militants, who then took refuge in a nearby cemetery continued their assault despite being pushed back by army helicopters. At least 12 army personnel were killed in the attack.
Hours after the Abu Ghraib attack, an open-air market in the Shia neighborhood of Sadr was hit by a suicide bomber on a motorbike. Another attacker then followed up the attack by shooting bystanders who gathered after the explosion. The attacks killed 24 people and wounded 52. In a statement released after the attack, ISIS claimed responsibility, saying they killed "hundreds of polytheist rejectionists."
In the Sunni town of Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad, three shoppers were killed and 10 wounded in a bomb explosion. ISIS militants claimed responsibility for the attack. Iraqi security forces secured the location of the blast but found no traces of the perpetrators. The region was put under emergency lockdown after the attack to prevent any further incidents.
The intensity of the blasts at Abu Gharib and Sadr have made it difficult for authorities to assess the number of victims. While official sources say the figure is at 44 so far, local sources peg the number at over 70.
