Political crisis sparks US warning
Print Edition
THREE car bombs in Baghdad, including a huge blast at a market in a Shiite area, killed at least 93 people yesterday, the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital this year.
The attacks, the deadliest of which was claimed by the Islamic State group, came with the government locked in a political crisis that some have warned could undermine the fight against the jihadists.
The worst bombing struck the frequently targeted Sadr City area of northern Baghdad around 10am, killing at least 63 people and wounding 85 others, officials said.
The blast set nearby shops on fire and left debris, including the charred, twisted remains of a vehicle, in the street.
Dozens of angry people gathered at the scene of the bombing, blaming the government for the carnage.
“The state is in a conflict over (government positions) and the people are the victims,” said a man named Abu Ali. “The politicians are behind the explosion.”
Abu Muntadhar echoed his anger. “The state is responsible for the bombings that hit civilians,” the local resident said. The politicians “should all get out.”
Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who spearheaded a protest movement demanding a Cabinet reshuffle and other reforms, has a huge following in the working-class neighborhood of Sadr City, which was named after his father.
Another suicide car bomb attack killed at least 18 people and wounded 34 at the entrance of the northwestern neighborhood of Kadhimiya, which is home to an important Shiite Muslim shrine.
Access to the area, which has also been repeatedly targeted over the years, is heavily controlled.
Several members of the security forces were among the victims, hospital sources said.
In the Jamea district in western Baghdad, another car bomb went off in the afternoon, killing at least 12 people and wounding 46, an interior ministry official and medics told reporters.
IS issued an online statement claiming responsibility for the attack in Sadr City and said that a suicide bomber it identified as Abu Sulaiman al-Ansari detonated the explosives-rigged vehicle.
There was no immediate claim for the two subsequent bombings, but all such attacks recently have been perpetrated by IS.
The UN’s top envoy in Iraq, Jan Kubis, condemned the bloodshed.
“These are cowardly terrorist attacks on civilians who have done nothing but go about their normal daily lives,” he said.
IS, which overran large areas of the country in 2014, considers that Shiites, who make up the majority of Iraq’s population, are heretics and often targets them with deadly bomb attacks.
Iraqi forces have regained significant ground from IS, but the jihadists still control a large part of western Iraq and are able to carry out bombings in government-held areas.
A months-old political crisis has led to repeated mass demonstrations that required a huge security deployment and hampered government action at a time when Iraq is still battling jihadists on several fronts.
Security forces are currently engaged in large-scale military operations in the provinces of Anbar and Nineveh as they close in on Fallujah and Mosul, IS’s two major remaining hubs in Iraq.
The United States and the United Nations have warned a political impasse could undermine the fight against IS.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has sought to replace party-affiliated ministers with a government of technocrats, a move opposed by powerful parties that rely on control of ministries for funds.
Angry demonstrators last month broke into central Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone and stormed parliament after lawmakers again failed to approve new ministers.
While the protesters withdrew the next day, parliament has yet to hold another session.
Zainab al-Tai, a lawmaker from Sadr’s political movement, said the most recent efforts to resume the parliamentary process were still floundering.
“Some disagreements remain, there is no session and we have yet to set a date for the next session,” she said.
“Parliament is divided in three groups... I don’t think we can reach a result, the decision will be in the hands of the people,” she added.
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