Baghdad: Militants in Iraq unleashed a wave of deadly attacks on the country’s Shiite community on Monday, killing at least 43 people.
The blitz by the militants this summer plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since US troops left at the end of 2011. While there was no claim of responsibility for the attacks, they seemed likely calculated by the group to sow fear among Iraqis and keep pressure on the new Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
The day’s attacks killed dozens in Baghdad and the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
In the capital, the bomber blew himself up among Shiite worshippers as they were leaving a mosque in a central commercial area after midday prayers on Monday. That blast killed at least 17 people and wounded 28, a police officer said.
In Karbala, four separate car bombs went off simultaneously, killing at least 26 people and wounding 55, another police officer said. The city, about 90 kilometres south of Baghdad, is home to the tombs of two revered Shiite imams and the site of year-round pilgrimages. The explosives-laden cars were parked in commercial areas and car park near government offices, the officer added.
Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media.
The attacks in Baghdad and Karbala, the latest in relentless assaults that have challenged the Shiite-led government, came a day after a suicide bombing targeted another Shiite mosque in the Iraqi capital, killing 28 people.
Hallmarks of Daesh
The latest attacks bore the hallmarks of Daesh, which has recently claimed several other large bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere, particularly in Shiite areas.
The militants have captured large chunks of western and northern Iraq, carving out a proto-state on both sides of the Syria-Iraq border and imposing its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law. Since August, US warplanes have been carrying out air strikes against the group as Iraqi and Kurdish security forces work to retake territory it has seized.
Meanwhile, French fighter jets have carried out a third round of air strikes against Daesh militants in support of Iraqi ground forces, the defence ministry said on Monday.
Two Rafale jets on Sunday destroyed two pick-up trucks belonging to the extremist group, which has seized vast swathes of Iraq and Syria.
“During an armed reconnaissance mission in the Tikrit region 200km north of Baghdad, mobile targets were transmitted to flight crews,” the ministry said on its website.
France carried out its first strikes under Operation Chammal, on September 19, after joining a US-led coalition battling the militants. A second round took place on September 25.
Fighter jets previously destroyed a logistics warehouse and four hangars containing military equipment used by Daesh militants.
France has nine fighter jets stationed at its Al Dhafra military base in the UAE.
