Bombings in Baghdad

[theHawk]

I'm confused. Aren't bombs illegal in Iraq? How did they get their hands on these dangerous assault weapons?

Islamic State car bomb in Iraqi capital kills 115

Bombings in Iraq, Bangladesh, Turkey....they're seeking Armegeddon

That's what we keep telling you, and why they should be banned from civilized countries.

Yet you keep defending them.

 

[Coyote]

I'm confused. Aren't bombs illegal in Iraq? How did they get their hands on these dangerous assault weapons?

Islamic State car bomb in Iraqi capital kills 115

Bombings in Iraq, Bangladesh, Turkey....they're seeking Armegeddon

That's what we keep telling you, and why they should be banned from civilized countries.

Yet you keep defending them.

Where have I defended ISIS? Link please.

 

[waltky]

Iraq bombing death toll rises to 250...

Iraq sees worst bombing since invasion with 250 deaths
Wed, 06 Jul 2016 - The death toll from Sunday's bombing in the Iraqi capital Baghdad rises to 250, making it the deadliest since the US-led invasion in 2003.

A lorry packed with explosives was detonated in the Karrada district while families were shopping for the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. So-called Islamic State (IS) has said it carried out the suicide attack. An earlier estimate for the attack had put the toll at 165. Iraq remains under an official state of mourning following the bombing. The destruction of the area was all but complete. Bewildered local residents have held candlelight vigils and prayed for peace.

Major attacks in Iraq since 2003

* 3 July 2016: Islamic State bombing in Baghdad kills 250
* August 2014: IS kill hundreds of minority Yazidi men and boys in Nineveh province, north-west of Baghdad
* 12 June 2014: Up to 1,700 military recruits are killed by IS at a former US base, an incident known as the Camp Speicher massacre
* 19 August 2009: Two car bombs near the Green Zone in Baghdad kill at least 155 people
* 14 August 2007: Multiple suicide bombings targeting the Yazidi community in northern Iraq kill more than 500 people
* 23 November 2006: More than 200 people killed as six car bombs detonate in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad

Engulfed in flames

Scores of people were also injured but most have been released from hospital, according to the Iraqi health ministry. The ministry said those critically injured had been sent abroad, without giving further details. The bombing in a mostly Shia Muslim area just after midnight came a week after Iraqi forces had recaptured the city of Falluja from IS. Reports said a lorry had been packed with explosives and left near the Hadi Center, popular with shoppers. The powerful blast engulfed the area in flames. Such was the chaos it took days for the scale of the attack to become clear.

Hope blasted away: Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor, Baghdad

Saddam Hussein's regime was harsh, and it could be murderous. He led the country into a series of disastrous wars and brought crippling international sanctions down on their heads. But with the benefit of 13 years of hindsight, the world that existed before 9 April 2003 seems to be a calmer, more secure place. They have not had a proper day of peace since the old regime fell. As for democracy, many I have spoken to believe the hopelessly sectarian political system is broken. At least, they say, law and order existed under Saddam. Some hoped things might get better after the army's victory over IS in Falluja. The devastating bomb attack in Baghdad in the early hours of Sunday has blasted that hope away.

Read more from our correspondent

See also:

Baghdad bomb attack: Victims and their stories
Mon, 04 Jul 2016 - Details have begun to emerge about some of the 165 people killed when a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-laden lorry in Baghdad on Sunday.

At least 165 people were killed shortly after midnight on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-laden lorry in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, security sources say. The jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has said it was behind the attack, which targeted a crowded shopping centre in the Karrada district, where people were enjoying a night out after breaking their daily fast for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Among those identified on social media as a victim was Adel al-Jaf, a young dancer also known as Adel Euro. The New York-based choreographer Jonathan Hollander told the BBC that the world had lost "an extraordinary, talented, creative artist".

Over the past two years, Mr Hollander and his Battery Dance company had mentored Jaf online. "Though he said he was a hip-hop and break-dancer, he said he really wanted to expand his repertoire," Mr Hollander said. "He wanted to learn from us and learn about contemporary dance and do ballet." Battery Dance said Jaf had "spread his love for dance to others in Baghdad, starting a dance academy, and providing a creative outlet for other artists at-risk". He had just completed his law degree and planned to come to the US to continue his dance studies, the company added. Zulfikar Oraibi, the son of former Iraqi footballer Ghanim Oraibi who played in the 1986 World Cup, was also reportedly killed in the bombing. The Alghad Press news website published a photo it said showed Ghanim sitting next to Zulfikar's grave.

Women weep at the site of a suicide bombing in Baghdad's Karrada district​

Another young man, named Issa al-Obaidi, had been buying clothes for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when he was caught up in the blast, according to a post on his Facebook page. The owner of a shop close to where the bomb went off told the New York Times he had asked two friends who owned clothing stores near his, Saif and Abdullah, to watch his business on Saturday night and that they had been killed. "I could not recognise their bodies," Abdul Kareem Hadi said. "[IS] says: 'We kill Shia,' but I lost my dearest friends to me in this explosion, and they were Sunnis."

Adnan Abu Altman was another victim identified on social media. He had graduated from law school at Al-Mansour University College only days before the bombing. He was in Karrada with his father Safaa, who was reportedly also killed, and his brother Ali, who is missing, according to the New Arab website. Photographs of two families believed to have been killed in the attack were also posted online. Raqia Hassan, her brother Hadi and their father Hassan Ali were said to have been buying clothes at the time of the attack, while Amr Mustanik was reportedly in the area with his wife and daughter. Many people also posted photos and video of what some described as the "zaffa (wedding procession) of a martyr". They showed men carrying a coffin, draped in an Iraqi flag, down a street in Karrada, led by drummers. The name of the victim was not given.

Baghdad bomb attack: Victims and their stories - BBC News

Related:

Iraq interior minister submits resignation after deadly blast
Wednesday 6th July, 2016: Iraqi Interior Minister Mohammed Ghabban announced Tuesday (Jul 5) that he had submitted his resignation to the prime minister following a bombing in Baghdad that killed more than 200 people. "I placed my resignation before the prime minister," Ghabban told a news conference.

He said the car bomb that ripped through a crowded shopping area in Baghdad early on Sunday came from Diyala province north of the capital, and likely successfully navigated a security checkpoint on the way in. Ghabban also said that checkpoints littered throughout the capital, a pillar of government efforts to secure the city, "are absolutely useless".

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack - one of the deadliest ever in Iraq - and said an Iraqi suicide bomber carried it out. The attack has sparked widespread anger among Iraqis, who accuse the government of not doing enough to protect them.

Apparently seeking to shore up its image, Baghdad on Monday announced the execution of five convicts and the arrest of 40 militants, while Ghabban's resignation announcement also seems aimed at assuaging angry Iraqis. IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but has since lost significant ground to Iraqi forces, most recently in Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad that was retaken at the end of last month.

Iraq interior minister submits resignation after deadly blast

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

A map of every car bomb explosion in Baghdad since 2003

Looks like someone ate a bowl of Franken Berrys and puked on a map of Iraq..

 

[waltky]

Baghdad bombing death toll rises to 292...

Baghdad bombing death toll climbs to 292
July 7, 2016 -- At least 292 people were killed in Sunday's car bombing in Baghdad, the Iraqi health ministry said Thursday.

The blast, at a crowded market in the city's Karrida district, was aimed at Shiite Muslims, the Islamic State, which claims responsibility, said. It was the first attack by IS since it was ousted from Fallujah by Iraqi forces in late June, and occurred as streets were crowded with people breaking their Ramadan fast. IS setbacks have prompted the group's return to guerrilla-style attacks, including suicide bombings.

Seven survivors of the explosion, caused when an explosives-laden truck drove into a building housing stores and a coffee shop, remain in a coma, and 43 burn victims were transferred to other countries for treatment, Mohammad al-Rubaee, deputy chief of Baghdad province's security committee, told CNN.

Following the attack, Interior Minister Salem al-Ghabban resigned, calling security checkpoints around the city "useless,' and the Iraqi government called a halt to the use of hand-held bomb detectors which have been shown not to work. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's visit to the blast site was met with jeers and stone-throwing, as Baghdad residents expressed their indignation at a government they say is more concerned with enriching itself than with the safety of its citizens.

Baghdad bombing death toll climbs to 292