A bomb exploded in a busy Baghdad commercial district today, killing one person and wounding six while a Sunni imam, a counter-terrorism officer and a civilian motorist died in separate attacks, officials said.
The bomb, which was placed in a sports shop, rocked bustling Al-Rasheed street at about at 1610 IST and caused
extensive structural damage, said an interior ministry official who gave the toll.
Earlier today, General Arkan Ali Mohammed, a counter-terrorism officer, was killed when a bomb attached to
his car exploded in Nisur Square in west Baghdad around 1030 IST. And a civilian motorist was also killed by a bomb
attached to his car in the Mansur district.
Seven people, including a policeman, were wounded in the two incidents. In a fourth incident, Imam Ghazi Juburi, of the Rahman mosque in the north Baghdad district of Adhamiyah, was shot dead by armed men as he left morning prayers, the
interior ministry official said.
The Iraqi capital has been hit by a spate of bomb attacks since a March 7 general election from which no clear
winner emerged, leading to fears of a political and security vacuum.
Triple suicide bombings on April 4 that targeted foreign embassies and killed 30 people in Baghdad were later
claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq, the Al-Qaeda front in the country.
Triple suicide bombings on April 4 that targeted foreign embassies and killed 30 people in Baghdad were later
claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq, the Al-Qaeda front in the country.
On April 6, six bombs in the capital killed at least 35 people, prompting Baghdad security spokesman Major
General Qassim Atta to declare the country was at "open war with remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Baath" party of Saddam Hussein.