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Islamic State bombs kill 80 in deadliest Baghdad attacks this year - UPDATED

Islamic State bombs kill 80 in deadliest Baghdad attacks this year - <span style="color: red;">UPDATED

11 May 2016 05:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Three suicide bombings claimed by Islamic State across Baghdad killed at least 80 people on Wednesday, Iraqi police and hospital sources said, in the deadliest attacks in the Iraqi capital this year, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Security has gradually improved in Baghdad, which was the target of daily bombings a decade ago, but violence against security forces and Shi'ite Muslim civilians is still frequent. Large blasts sometimes set off reprisal attacks against the minority Sunni community.

The fight against Islamic State, which seized about a third of Iraq's territory in 2014, has exacerbated a long-running sectarian conflict in Iraq mostly between Sunnis and the Shi'ite majority that came to power after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Such violence threatens to undermine U.S.-backed efforts to defeat the militant group.

Wednesday's bombings could also intensify pressure on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to resolve a political crisis that has crippled the government for more than a month.

The first attack, a suicide car bomb at a bustling market in the Shi'ite Muslim area of Sadr City, killed 55 people during morning rush hour and wounded 68.

Two more blasts struck at the end of the working day. A suicide bomber stormed a security checkpoint leading into Kadhimiya, a northwestern area housing one of the holiest sites in Shi'ite Islam, killing 17 and wounding more than 30.

Another bomb went off at a checkpoint on a commercial thoroughfare in a predominantly Sunni district of western Baghdad, killing eight and wounding 20.

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23:03

Baku-APA. At least 13 people were killed and 31 others wounded in two car bombings in northern and western the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

One attack occurred in the afternoon when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car into the crowded square of Adan at the entrance of the holy Shiite district of Kadhmiyah in northern Baghdad, leaving at least 11 people dead and 23 others wounded, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, another car bomb ripped through al-Jami'a district in western Baghdad, killing at least two people and wounding eight others, the source said.

The toll could rise as ambulances, police and civilian vehicles were evacuating victims to the nearby hospitals and medical centers, the source added.

In the morning, the source said that a car bomb went off at a popular outdoor market in the Shiite bastion of Sadr City district in eastern the Iraqi capital, leaving up to 64 people dead and 87 others wounded.

Iraq is currently has been witnessing a wave of violence since the Islamic State (IS) group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014.

Earlier, a report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq estimated that 741 Iraqis were killed and 1,374 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in April across Iraq.