TWO SEPARATE CAR bomb explosions targeted Sunday morning commuters in Baghdad, killing at least 13 civilians, officials said, amid an ongoing stand-off between Iraqi forces and al-Qaida-linked militants west of the Iraqi capital.
The deadliest blast occurred at a bustling bus station in central Baghdad when an explosives-laden car exploded outside the station in the Allawi area, killing at least nine people and wounding 16, a police officer said.
Bombs
Thousands of people use the bus station every day or pass through the area. Last Thursday, a suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of security force recruits nearby, killing nearly two dozen.
Another parked car bomb targeted a gathering of buses and taxis in Baghdad’s northern Hurriyah neighbourhood, killing four civilians and wounding 12 others, the same police officer said.
Two medical officials confirmed the causality figures, which included 16 wounded.
The attacks come as Iraqi security forces and allied Sunni tribal militias have been battling al-Qaida-linked militants in Anbar to recapture strategic territory overrun by militants from the local al-Qaida franchise, known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Iraqi forces have yet to militarily try to reassert control over Fallujah, which remains in the hands of the militants and tribal gunmen opposed to the central government. Militants and tribal fighters also control part of the provincial capital, Ramadi. Sporadic clashes there and in surrounding areas continue to take place.
Families
Thousands of families have left the area, fearing a government offensive. Clashes between militants and security forces have left at least 60 people dead since violence erupted after the arrest of a Sunni lawmaker sought on terrorism charges and the dismantling of an anti-government Sunni protest camp in Ramadi.
Political tensions and violence has escalated in Iraq over the past year. Last year, the country saw the highest death told since the worst of the country’s sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007, according to United Nations figures. The UN said violence killed 8,868 last year.
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