Iran Condemns Baghdad Terrorist Bombings

On Wednesday May 18, Jaberi Ansari censured the deadly bombings and expressed condolences to the families of victims and the Iraqi nation and government.

He said the terrorists’ move to intensify their crimes follow their failures in battlefields.

Desperate to make up for their defeats, the terrorists are exploiting the political conditions in Iraq and making use of every opportunity to take revenge on the Iraqi nation, government, army and popular forces, he said.

Jaberi Ansari lauded the Iraqi army and popular forces for their victories against the terrorists and called on the Arab country’s officials and political currents to keep vigilant, maintain unity and expedite efforts to resolve the current political issues and problems, which he described as an important factor in defeating the terrorists and their supporters.

He further described Takfiri terrorism as a global threat and said supporting Iraq and Syria against the threat is tantamount to backing world security.

On Tuesday, at least 70 people were killed and over 100 others wounded in four bombings in different neighbourhoods of Baghdad.

An explosion in a market in al-Shaab district left 34 people dead and 75 injured, while a car bomb in the al-Rasheed area killed eight and wounded another 22 victims.

In al-Rasheed, a roadside bomb exploded outside concrete blast walls surrounding the open air market, before a female suicide bomber blew herself up in a crowd of people who gathered to help the initial victims.

Later, a suicide car bomb was reported at another market in Sadr City, killing at least 18 people and injuring 35.

In a fourth attack, the suicide bomber killed nine people at a restaurant in the Habibia district.

On Sunday, bomb attacks by Daesh killed at least 15 people in and around Baghdad.

The increase in the number of terrorist attacks has angered local populations, who blame the Iraqi government for failing to provide tighter security.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said a political crisis sparked by his attempt to reshuffle the cabinet in an anti-corruption bid is hampering the fight against Daesh and is giving the terrorist group a freer hand to target the civilian population.

Some Iraqis say, however, Daesh is trying to make up for its loss of ground to Iraqi security forces over the past months.

New estimates by the government show that Daesh now controls only 14 percent of Iraqi territory, down from the 40 percent it held in 2014, with top officials vowing to clear the entire Iraqi soil from militants in 2016.

The Iraqi army along with Popular Mobilization forces has been engaged in battles with Daesh to remove it from the areas it has overrun in Iraq.