Death Toll from Baghdad Attacks Reaches 30

Local Editor

A series of attacks in the Baghdad area, including four car bombs targeting civilians, have martyred at least 30 people, security and medical officials said Tuesday.

The violence Monday evening was the latest in a months-long surge in bloodshed that, coupled with a deadly weeks-long standoff in Anbar province.
Car bombs went off in populated civilian areas, ,across the capital, including the district of Adhamiyah and the areas of Shaab and Shuala, from about 6:00 pm onwards, the officials said.

The blasts, which struck a market, a gathering marking the birthday of Holy Prophet Mohammed [PBUH] and people near a string of alcohol shops, martyred at least 27 people and wounded dozens more, according to security and medical officials.

A gun attack on a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Madain, just south of the capital, left three policemen dead and six wounded.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but militants, including those linked to al-Qaeda, often carry out coordinated attacks in and around Baghdad.

The violence comes as security forces and pro-government tribes are facing militants tied to the al-Qaeda-linked so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" and allied tribes in Anbar, a mostly-desert area west of Baghdad that stretches to the Syrian border.

The unrest comes with parliamentary elections due on April 30.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team