Suicide car bomb kills 11 at outdoor market in Baghdad
A suicide car bomb ripped through an outdoor market in a Shiite-dominated northeastern district of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, officials said, as government forces deployed across much of the Iraqi capital in preparation for a major military parade later this week.
The developments came on the heels of two large-scale attacks claimed by the Islamic State group that killed more than 300 people last week. On Monday, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Washington would send 560 more troops to Iraq to help battle Islamic State.
In Tuesday’s bombing, the explosives-laden pickup truck exploded during the morning rush hour at a vegetable and fruit market in the Rashidiya district, a police officer said. The blast killed 11 and wounded up to 32, and also damaged several cars, he added.
A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group. The Sunni extremists, who consider Shiites heretics, swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014, capturing large chunks of territory and plunging the country into its worst crisis since U.S. troops left at the end of 2011.
Last week, Islamic State killed more than 300 people in two attacks. A massive truck bombing struck a bustling commercial area in a Baghdad’s predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Karada, killing 292 people — one of the deadliest attacks since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. And Thursday, an attack at a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad killed 37 people.
Iraqi government forces deployed in most of Baghdad on Tuesday, closing off main roads and snarling traffic. The Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, said the troops were “practicing for a planned military parade for a specific occasion.” Maan didn’t name the occasion, but the country is due to mark the anniversary of its 1958 overthrow of a Hashemite monarchy and the declaration of Iraq as a republic on Thursday.
The recent uptick in Islamic State attacks beyond the front lines demonstrated the group’s ability to launch lethal attacks despite recent territorial losses in both Iraq and Syria, where it has established a self-proclaimed caliphate. Islamic State militants still hold pockets of territory in northern and western Iraq.
According to Carter, who on Monday met with top Iraqi officials, the new American forces should arrive in the coming weeks. They will primarily be tasked with transforming an air base retaken this month from Islamic State into a staging hub for the long-awaited battle to recapture Mosul — Iraq’s second-largest city — from the militants.
ALSO
‘Fear and horror’ in Aleppo, Syria — and the doctors who traversed a dangerous road to offer help
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
