Two Islamic State car bombs in Baghdad kill at least 14: sources
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The first blast shook Baghdad's eastern al-Obeidi area during the morning rush, killing six and wounding 15. Islamic State said in an online statement it had targeted a gathering of Shi'ite Muslims, whom it considers apostates.
The second explosion hit the central district of Bab al-Moadham near a security checkpoint, killing eight. Both bombs had been left in parked vehicles.
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| People look at a burned vehicle at the site of car bomb attack in a busy square at Baghdad's sprawling Sadr City district, in Iraq. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad |
More than 60 people have been killed in Baghdad in attacks over the past week as Islamic State intensifies its campaign of violence in the capital while a 100,000-strong alliance of Iraqi forces extends its advances against the group in Mosul.
Mosul is Islamic State's last major stronghold in the country. The group has lost most of the territory it seized in northern and western Iraq in 2014, and ceding Mosul would probably spell the end of its self-styled caliphate.
Lieutenant General Talib Shaghati, Iraq's joint operations commander, told Reuters on Wednesday that pro-government troops had retaken about 70 percent of Mosul's eastern districts since an offensive began on Oct. 17.
