Attacks in Baghdad kills over 20

Militants unleashed a wave of attacks targeting commercial areas in and aro-und Baghdad on Monday, killing more than 20 people, officials said.

Shortly after the bombings hit, the extremist ISIS, which has been behind recent deadly attacks in Baghdad and beyond, claimed responsibility for three of the attacks, both in the Iraqi capital. Such assaults are seen as an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces’ attention away from the front lines.

The deadliest of Monday’s attacks took place in the northern, Shia-dominated Shaab neighbourhood of Baghdad where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint next to a commercial area, killing eight civilians and three soldiers. The explosion also wounded up to 14 people, a police officer said.

A suicide car bomber struck an outdoor market in the town of Tarmiyah, about 50 km north of Baghdad, killing four civilians and two policemen, another police officer said, adding that 19 people were wounded in that bombing.

And in Baghdad’s eastern Shia Sadr City district, a bomb motorcycle went off at a market, killing three and wounding 10, the police said. Medical officials confirmed casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity.