7 killed in Baghdad violence

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) - At least seven people were killed on Friday by bomb blasts and mortar barrages in different parts of Iraqi capital Baghdad, according to local security sources.

"Several mortar shells fell in the Al-Fudayliya, Al-Baladiyyat and Al-Mashtal areas east of Baghdad," Daham al-Mahmoud, an Interior Ministry official, told Anadolu Agency.

The shells exploded in residential areas, killing two people and injuring 10 others, he said, going on to suggest that the shells had been fired from the Baquba Road east of Baghdad by members of the Daesh terrorist group.

In southern Baghdad’s Al-Yusufiya area, meanwhile, three people were killed and another nine injured when a bomb went off near a vegetable market, al-Mahmoud said.

And in a third incident, two people were killed and another 10 injured by two bomb blasts that went off in Baghdad’s Al-Ghazaliya and Al-Hurriya districts, according to the official.

The explosions came only hours after two people were killed and another 12 injured by a blast at a weapons depot east of the capital.

No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s string of attacks, but the Daesh terrorist group has frequently carried out similar attacks in the past.

Iraq’s security situation has deteriorated rapidly since mid-2014, when Daesh captured the northern city of Mosul along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

In recent months, the Iraqi army -- backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground -- has since managed to retake much lost territory.

Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in firm control of several parts of the country, including Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.