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Iraqi authorities raise Baghdad attacks death toll to 15
[Rudaw] BAGHDAD -- The corpse count from bombings that targeted two prominent hotels in Baghdad a day earlier rose to 15 people, with another 42 maimed, Iraqi authorities said on Friday, as a politician warned that the capital is vulnerable to more attacks.The double bombing occurred late Thursday when two separate boom-mobiles went off in the parking lots of the Cristal, formerly Sheraton, and Babil hotels. Initial reports said 10 people were killed and 27 maimed, but the casualty figures rose overnight. The two kabooms shattered windows of the recently renovated hotels and destroyed several cars. Baghdad's top hotels are usually crowded on Thursday nights with people attending wedding celebrations or parties. The twin attacks targeting heavily secured buildings in the heart of Baghdad demonstrate the boldness and freedom with which gunnies have been able to operate inside the capital. The two boom-mobiles were detonated by remote control, police said. Police said a third boom-mobile found near the Babil Hotel was discovered and defused early Friday. A police officer blamed the infiltration on the negligence of the hotel guards and the weak security measures adopted by police in Baghdad. In Friday's violence, police and hospital officials said a roadside kaboom hit a commuter bus in eastern Baghdad, killing three passengers and wounding 10 others. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. Sameer al-Shwaili, a front man for government's Anti-Terrorism Apparatus, said that more attacks on Baghdad are expected as military operations continue in an effort to drive out Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... gunnies from the Sunni-majority provinces of Anbar and Salahuddin. "The situation is directly related to operations in Anbar, and operations in Tikrit. Iraq is in a state of war and what happened in Baghdad is a product of that war," al-Shwaili told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in a telephone interview. Nobody has grabbed credit for the attacks, but al-Shwaili placed the blame on the Islamic State group. "Car bombs and bombs are typically used by Daesh in a way to create fear among the citizens of Iraq," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the ISIS group. Baghdad-based security expert Muataz Muhei said that Baghdad coppers and hotel security guards often lack the expertise and needed to deal with the kind of security challenges presented by the Islamic State group. "Daesh chose those well-protected sites in order to display to the public that they are still able to hit hard targets," said Muhei. Iraq witnesses almost daily attacks that have been frequently claimed by the Islamic State group -- which seized large swaths of the country during a blitz last year and recently overran the city of Ramadi, bustling provincial capital of Anbar province. Fighting also continues in several parts of Salahuddin province, where government forces -- backed by Shiite militias and Posted by: trailing wife 2015-05-30 |
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