Bomb blasts kill 16 in two Shia-majority areas of Baghdad

A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 12 people were killed and 42 injured when a car rigged with explosives was detonated in the al-Amin al-Thaniyah neighborhood of eastern Baghdad on Monday.

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

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

Additionally, two civilians lost their lives and five others suffered injuries when an improvised explosive device was set off near a popular market in the town of Yusufiyah, situated 40 kilometers (24 miles) south of Baghdad.

Elsewhere in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala, a bomb went off near a restaurant in the town of Balad Ruz, located some 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast of the capital, leaving two people killed and eight others injured.

Also on Monday, a bomb was detonated near an army patrol in the town of Taji, located 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Baghdad. Three soldiers were injured in the bombing.

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 the Popular Mobilization Units have joined forces and are seeking to take back militant-held regions in joint operations.

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