The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks in Iraq since mid-October including three since New Year's Eve.

The latest on Monday saw at least 32 people killed in a suicide car bombing that targeted a Shiite neighbourhood of the capital Baghdad.

At least 27 people were also killed by twin explosions in a busy market area in central Baghdad on New Year's Eve, while another seven died on Sunday in an attack south of the Shiite shrine city of Najaf.

They were the latest in a spate of attacks since the army launched an offensive in mid-October to recapture Mosul, the country's second city and last remaining IS stronghold in Iraq. One on November 25 saw 70 people, mostly Shiite pilgrims, killed south of Baghdad.

The wave of violence has shocked many, but the attacks are still far from the deadliest since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003:

- July 3, 2016: 323 people are killed when a suicide truck bomber attacks a shopping area in the Baghdad district of Karrada.

- October 25, 2009: 153 people are killed and more than 500 wounded when two car bombs explode in Baghdad.

- August 14, 2007: More than 400 people are slaughtered when four suicide truck bombs target members of the ancient Yazidi religious sect in two Kurdish villages in northern Iraq.

- July 7, 2007: At least 140 people are killed in a suicide truck bombing in Amerli village in northern Iraq.

- April 18, 2007: A wave of car bomb attacks on Shiite districts of Baghdad leaves 190 dead.

- March 27, 2007: An anti-Shiite attack in the northern town of Tal Afar kills 152.

- February 3, 2007: A suicide truck bomb attack in a Baghdad market kills at least 130.

- November 23, 2006: At least 202 die in a string of car bombings in Baghdad's Sadr City.

- September 14, 2005: At least 128 people are killed in a series of suicide bombings in Shiite districts of Baghdad.

- March 2, 2004: Bomb attacks on Shiites in the holy city of Karbala and in Baghdad kill more than 170. </s> At least 50 people have been killed and over 80 more injured in a pair of gun and car bomb attacks in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, Reuters reports, citing health officials. Iranian media said that among the victims were Iranian pilgrims.

In the first attack, a group of gunmen entered a restaurant off the Dhi Qar highway and began shooting at random, hitting at least 50 people, local media reports.

Shortly afterward two suicide bombers, including one driving a car rigged with explosives, blew themselves and the car up at a security checkpoint nearby, Iraqi officials told AFP.

The survivors being taken to the al-Batha and Nasiriyah hospitals, Press TV reports.

Jassem al-Khalidi, a senior health official, told the TV channel that more than 87 people had sustained injuries in the attacks.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks. Nasiriyah is the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate, which has a large Shiite population. Shiites and other ethnic and religious minorities have often been targets of Sunni militants in Iraq, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). </s> The Islamic State launched multiple attacks in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities at the turn of the year that have killed scores of people.

At least 35 people were killed and dozens of others wounded by an explosion in a packed square in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad on January 2.

The blast from a car bomb occurred at an intersection in the northeastern Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr City and reportedly struck a place where many day laborers wait for jobs.

In another attack in Samarra, 100 kilometers north of Baghdad, officials said multiple gunmen wearing suicide vests took over two police stations late on January 2, killing at least seven policemen. Security forces said they regained control after killing six militants.

IS, which has been locked in a bitter battle with government forces for control of the northern city of Mosul, claimed responsibility for both attacks via its Amaq news agency.

Other IS attacks in Baghdad in recent days targeted predominantly Shi'a areas.

Three bombs killed 29 people in the capital on December 31 and an attack by two suicide bombers at a checkpoint the following day in the southern city of Najaf -- a holy city for Shi'a -- killed at least eight people.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP </s> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three blasts killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50 in predominantly Shi’ite Muslim districts of Baghdad on Tuesday, police and medical sources said.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest in a commercial street in the eastern Baghdad al-Jadida area of the Iraqi capital, killing nine people and wounding more than 30, they said.

Another suicide attack hit a commercial street of Bayaa in western Baghdad, killing six and wounding 22, the sources said.

A roadside bomb exploded near a gathering of cattle herders and merchants in al-Radhwaniya, also in western Baghdad, killing two people, they said.

Islamic State claimed the two suicide attacks, but did not mention the third assault.

The hardline Sunni Muslim group has intensified bomb attacks in government-held areas this year as it loses territory to U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias.

The group claimed a truck bombing in July that killed at least 324 people in the Karrada shopping area of Baghdad - the deadliest single attack in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The group continues to control vast areas in northern and western Iraq, including the city of Mosul, captured in 2014. </s> A car bomb blast killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 45 others in a mainly Shi'ite district in southern Baghdad on Monday, police and medical sources said.

The explosion occurred on a busy commercial street in the Amil neighborhood, the sources said. </s> TIKRIT (IRAQ): A total of 39 persons were killed and some 40 wounded on Sunday in two bombings and gunfire attacks in Iraqi province of Salahudin, officials here said.

A barrel filled with explosives detonated near a bridge on early Sunday in provincial capital city of Tikrit in Shishin area, some 170 km from Baghdad, killing 13 persons and injuring 30 others, the source told Xinhua news agency on condition of anonymity.

In another incident, an explosive-laden car went off at a parking lot in Iraq’s Samarra city, 120 km from Baghdad, leaving 10 persons killed and 10 others injured, an official said.

The blast set fire to several nearby cars and caused damages to many others at the scene, the source added.

Early in the day, gunmen, believed to be affiliated to Islamic State (IS) militant group, broke into the house of a tribal leader in Tulul al-Baj area, some 50 km north of Tikrit, and opened fire in the house and killed 16 persons, the source said.

Terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts killed 1,792 Iraqis and injured 1,358 others in October across Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the US, which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003. </s> ISIS: Terror group claims attack in southern Iraq kills at least seven

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

An attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a police checkpoint in southern Iraq left at least seven people dead on Sunday, officials said.

Gunmen wearing suicide vests and driving an explosives-laden vehicle opened fire on the checkpoint near the town of Qadisiyah, which lies around 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Baghdad.

"The security forces fought back, killing the attackers and blowing up the car," an interior ministry statement said.

"They were planning to head to Najaf to blow themselves up there," interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said, referring to a holy Shiite city around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the north.

Maan said seven people were killed by the attackers and 15 wounded. He said five policemen were among the dead.

The military commander for the area, Major General Qais al-Rahaima, gave the same death toll and said at least 11 were wounded.

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

Najaf is considered a religious capital for Iraq’s Shiite majority and has always been seen as a major potential target for IS, which views Shiites as heretics.

The jihadist group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in a statement that said five of its suicide attackers had been killed and putting the number of victims killed and wounded at 100.

The group had also claimed twin bombings at a market area in central Baghdad on Saturday that left at least 27 people dead and more than 50 wounded.

This post was syndicated from pulse.ng - Nigeria's entertainment & lifestyle platform online. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook </s> Suicide attacks kill 20 people in eastern Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Suicide bombs at two marketplaces in Baghdad, one of them claimed by Islamic State, killed at least 20 people on Sunday, police and medics said, the latest in a spate of militant attacks in the Iraqi capital that have left dozens dead.

In the first blast, the attacker drove an explosives-rigged car into a large vegetable market in the mainly Shi'ite district of Jamila, and detonated it after security forces opened fire to try to stop the vehicle, police sources said.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up a few hours later at a market in the mostly Shi'ite Baladiyat district.

The first blast killed 13, and the second blast killed seven people. More than 50 were wounded.

Islamic State claimed carrying out the first attack in an online statement, saying the bomber had targeted "a gathering of Shi'ites" in Jamila.

A series of attacks in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities have killed more than 80 people in just over a week.

Several have been claimed by the Sunni extremist Islamic State, which is coming under increasing pressure from a U.S.-backed offensive in Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi forces advanced to within several hundred metres of the Tigris river than runs through Mosul on Saturday, as their operation against the militants gathers pace. </s> Islamic State claims Baghdad car bomb attack as wave of attacks kills more than 20

Updated

A wave of attacks in and around Baghdad has left more than 20 people dead, the latest in a series of assaults blamed on the Islamic State (IS) group.

A suicide car bomb ripped through a wholesale market in the sprawling Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City, killing at least seven people and wounding 15, Brigadier General Saad Maan, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said.

He said a member of the security forces spotted the bomber and opened fire but was unable to prevent the attack.

A policeman and two medical officials gave a higher toll, saying 16 people were killed in the attack and another 47 wounded.

At a hospital where victims of the attack had been taken, a body exploded inside a morgue refrigerator.

The medics said it appeared to have been a second attacker who was killed by shrapnel from the first explosion.

IS claimed the attack, saying it was targeting Shiites. The Sunni extremist group views Iraq's Shiite majority as apostates deserving of death.

Elsewhere in the city, a suicide bomber killed nine shoppers and wounded 16 others at a fruit and vegetable market in a mainly Shiite neighbourhood.

Three additional bombings in and around the capital killed seven people and wounded 24 others.

Police and medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.

IS has carried out a string of bombings in Baghdad over the past week, killing dozens. A suicide bomber struck Sadr City last week, leaving more than 40 people dead.

The latest attacks come as Iraqi forces are trying to drive IS militants from the northern city of Mosul in a massive operation launched in mid-October.

In recent days, troops have pushed closer to the Tigris River, which splits the city in half.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, fell to IS in the summer of 2014, when the militants swept over much of northern and western Iraq.

AP

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, iraq

First posted
A series of attacks kill at least 70 people and injure more than 100 others in mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, Iraq.