Dozens killed in car bombings across Iraq
A series of car bombings across Iraq has killed at least 56 people and wounded dozens as the government continued its efforts to combat extremism.
The largest bombing took place in the Shiite-majority town of al-Khales in eastern Diyala province. At least 32 people were killed and 58 wounded when the car bomb tore through a commercial street, a police official said.
In July, Diyala was the scene of one of the deadliest attacks on Iraqi soil in almost a decade when a suicide bomber with the Islamic State group attacked a crowded marketplace, killing 115 people, including women and children.
The province, parts of which were previously under IS rule, has been the scene of multiple attacks in recent months, prompting anti-government protests with citizens demanding tougher security measures.
Meanwhile, in Iraq’s southern Basra province, a senior security official said a car bomb exploded in a busy commercial district of al-Zubair, killing 10 people.
Jabar al-Saadi, head of security for Basra province, said at least 25 people were wounded in the attack in the town 30 miles south west of Basra.
10 martyred and 25 wounded after a car bomb blast in a popular street in Zubayr district, southwest of Basra, #Iraq. pic.twitter.com/WADwC7h3s8
— H. Sumeri (@IraqiSecurity) October 5, 2015
In the capital Baghdad, police said at least 14 people were killed and 25 wounded when a car bomb exploded in the north-eastern neighbourhood of Husseiniya.
Hospital officials corroborated the death tolls.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, IS regularly targets Shiite neighbourhoods and government installations in an effort to destabilise the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
