Separate car bomb attacks claim 18 lives in Baghdad

At least eighteen people have been killed in two separate car bomb attacks targeting a group of restaurants and an outdoor market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a bomb went off close to a line of small restaurants in Baghdad’s northeastern district of Sadr City on Thursday, killing eleven people and wounding over two dozen others.

Shortly afterwards, a second car bomb hit near an outdoor market in the same district, and left seven people killed and 21 others wounded.

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

ISIL launched an offensive in Iraq in June and took control of the country’s second largest city, Mosul, before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.

The extremist group has threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians, during its advances in the violence-torn Arab state.

According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), a total of 1,232 Iraqis lost their lives in November, while 2,434 others were injured.

The UN mission further noted that at least 402 people were killed and 624 others wounded in Iraq’s western province of Anbar.

Additionally, at least 332 people were killed and 921 others wounded in a series of bombings and gun attacks across Baghdad Province.

In October, at least 856 civilians and 417 Iraqi security forces lost their lives, while over 2,000 others were injured.