Multiple bombings claim 7 lives in, around Iraqi capital

Iraqi security and medical officials say at least seven people have lost their lives and more than a dozen sustained injuries in a spate of bomb attacks in and around the country’s violence-plagued capital.

A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a civilian was killed and seven others wounded when a roadside bomb went off in Baghdad’s western neighborhood of al-Shu’ala on Thursday evening, Arabic-language al-Baghdadia satellite television network reported.

Security forces immediately cordoned off the site of the attack, and ambulance workers ferried the wounded to a nearby hospital.

Additionally, an anti-al-Qaeda Sahwa fighter and his wife were killed when a bomb explosion ripped through their vehicle in southern Baghdad. Their two sons were injured in the terrorist attack.

An official at the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research also lost his life in the northern al-Adhamiyah neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday, when a bomb blast targeted his vehicle.

Separately, a bomb exploded in the capital’s western neighborhood of Ghazaliya, killing one civilian and injuring four others.

In the town of Madain, situated about 20 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of the capital, two civilians lost their lives and six others suffered injuries when a bomb attack struck.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. However, Iraqi officials usually blame such assaults on the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq says a total of 1,325 Iraqis were killed and another 1,811 wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in August. According to the UN mission, the number of civilian fatalities stood at 585. Violence also claimed the lives of 740 members of the Iraqi security forces. A great portion of the fatalities was recorded in Baghdad, where 318 civilians were killed.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since Daesh Takfiri militants began their march through the Iraqi territory in June 2014. Army soldiers and Popular Mobilization units have joined forces and are seeking to take back militant-held regions in joint operations.