Islamic State bombing of Shiite area in Baghdad kills 52
The Islamic State group said one of its suicide bombers carried out an attack near a market in Baghdad Wednesday, as officials raised the death toll to at least 52.
IS said in an online statement that a bomber identified as "Abu Sulaiman al-Ansari" detonated the car bomb in Sadr City, a Shiite area of north Baghdad.
Iraqi forces have regained significant ground from IS, which overran swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014.
But the jihadists still control a large part of western Iraq, and are able to carry out frequent bombings in government-held areas.
IS also a controls significant area in northern and western Iraq, including Iraq\’s second-largest city of Mosul. Commercial and public places in Shiite-dominated areas are among the most frequent targets for the Sunni militants seeking to undermine Iraqi government efforts to maintain security inside the capital.
In February, the group carried out devastating back-to-back market bombings in Sadr City, the stronghold of followers of an influential Shiite cleric. That attack claimed the lives of at least 73 people.
According to the United Nations, at least 741 Iraqis were killed in April due to ongoing violence. The U.N. mission to Iraq put the number of civilians killed at 410, while the rest it said were members of the security forces. A total of 1,374 Iraqis were wounded that month, UNAMI said.
In March, at least 1,119 people were killed and 1,561 wounded in the ongoing violence.
SOURCE: AFP AND AP
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