CAR BOMB CLAIMS 17 LIVES IN IRAQ’S CAPITAL

Baghdad, 11 Syawwal 1435/7 August 2014 (MINA) – At least 17 people, including six Iraqi policemen, have been killed in a powerful car bomb attack on a police checkpoint in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad.

According to Iraqi security sources, the deadly incident took place in the holy town of Kadhimiya, located in a northern neighborhood of Baghdad, on Thursday.

Thirty-one people also suffered injuries in the incident, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Friday.

Kadhimiya is a predominantly Shia town in the crisis-hit country and is home to the shrines of two Shia Imams.

In a separate deadly incident on the same day, at least 11 people lost their lives in two car bomb attacks in the northern city of Kirkuk.

Iraqi security sources said the bombs exploded near a Shia mosque. People displaced by the ISIL attacks were said to have taken refuge in the mosque. Iraqi medical sources also confirmed the casualties.

Some 2,400 deaths were recorded in June when the ISIL launched a massive blitz capturing parts of the country.

The ISIL Takfiri militants took control of Mosul, in a lightning advance on June 10, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital.

More than a million people have been displaced in Iraq so far this year, according to the United Nations.

The ISIL has vowed to continue its raid towards Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that the country’s security forces would confront the terrorists, calling the seizure of Mosul a “conspiracy.” (T/P012/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)