5 die, including 3 Shia militiamen, in Baghdad violence

By Ibrahim Salih

BAGHDAD

At least five people were killed, including three Shia militiamen, in separate bombings that rocked the Iraqi capital on Thursday, according to a local police source.

One bomb targeted members of the Hashd al-Shaabi militia in the city’s northern Al-Tarmiya district, killing three of them and injuring six others, Yasser al-Mustafa, a Baghdad police officer, told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Mustafa, security forces have since cordoned off the area and begun searching for the perpetrators.

The Hashd al-Shaabi is an umbrella group of pro-government Shia militias established with the aim of fighting the Daesh terrorist group, which overran much of the country in mid-2014.

The Hashd al-Shaabi has been accused in the past of committing abuses against Sunni civilians in areas that it has captured from Daesh.

On the same day, a second bomb went off in Baghdad's western Al-Tubaji neighborhood, killing two people and injuring nine others, al-Mustafa said.

Al-Mustafa also reported that police had discovered two unidentified bodies -- riddled with gunshot wounds -- in an area northeast of Baghdad.

While there was no claim of responsibility for Thursday’s violence, the Iraqi capital has in recent months seen bloody attacks -- which often target civilians -- on an almost daily basis.

The Iraqi authorities blame the violence on Daesh, which still enjoys a significant presence in war-torn Iraq despite having suffered a string of recent military defeats.

Iraq’s security situation has deteriorated markedly since mid-2014, when Daesh captured Mosul -- the country’s second largest city -- along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s north and west.