Thirty killed, 9 injured in explosions across Iraq

Iran Press TV

Sat May 2, 2015 8:53PM

At least 30 people have lost their lives and nine others have been wounded in separate bomb blasts across war-torn Iraq, security sources say.

Twin car bomb explosions killed at least 17 people in the busy Karrada neighborhood of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, police said, adding that the bombs detonated at a time that restaurants and coffee shops in the area were full.

In another incident, five women and two children traveling in a minibus were killed when a roadside bomb went off in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.

Meanwhile, three Iraqi troops and three volunteer forces were killed and nine others were injured when a man rammed his explosives-laden car into a military base in the town of Garma in the western province of Anbar.

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) says 812, including 277 members of security forces and volunteers, were killed in April.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the Saturday acts of violence; however Iraqi officials often blame ISIL terrorists for such attacks.

The ISIL terrorist group, with members from several Western countries, controls swathes of land in Iraq and neighboring Syria, and has been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.

Northern and western parts of Iraq have been in chaos since the ISIL started its campaign of terror in early June 2014.

Over the past months, the Iraqi army has launched large-scale operations to flush the terrorists out of the country's strategic cities.

In April, the Iraqi army, backed by volunteer forces including both Shia and Sunni members, managed to fully liberate Tikrit, the capital city of the Salahuddin province as well as the key city of Ramadi in Anbar.

MSM/NT