A suicide car bombing in Baghdad killed at least 23 people on Monday and wounded 45 others, according to Iraqi officials.



ISIS RECRUIT MAY HAVE USED WELFARE CASH TO FUND FAMILY'S TERROR JOURNEY

The attack targeted a commercial area in Baghdad's southwestern Amil neighborhood, police and hospital officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group has been behind previous Baghdad bombings.

Iraqi forces have been battling the extremists in Mosul, the country's second largest city, since October. Iraq declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January and is now fighting for the more densely populated western half.

Iraqi troops are closing in on Mosul's old city, where some of the fiercest fighting is expected to unfold. The militarized Federal Police say they are some 500 meters (yards) from al-Nuri mosque, where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a rare public appearance in July 2014, announcing a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

The militants have suffered a string of defeats over the past two years, but have continued to regularly launch attacks in and around Baghdad. A series of large-scale bombings claimed by IS have struck Baghdad since the operation to retake Mosul began.

Iraqi and coalition officials have repeatedly warned that IS will return to its insurgent roots as it loses territory.</s>Iraqi officials say Baghdad bombing kills at least 23, wounds 45 others.</s>A car bomb blast killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 45 others in a mainly Shi'ite district in southern Baghdad on Monday, police and medical sources said.

The explosion occurred on a busy commercial street in the Amil neighborhood, the sources said.</s>BAGHDAD: A car bombing on Monday evening in the Iraqi capital Baghdad killed at least 23 people and wounded 45, an interior ministry official told AFP.



The blast happened at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) in the west of the city, he added.</s>Another 45 people wounded in an attack targeting a commercial street in southwestern Baghdad suburb of Hay al-Amel.

A car bomb exploded in the Iraqi capital on Monday, killing at least 23 people and wounding 45 others in a mainly Shia district in southwestern Baghdad.

The attack - as Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi met US President Donald Trump in Washington DC - targeted a busy commercial district of the Hay al-Amel suburb, according to police and hospital officials.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, which bore all the hallmarks of a suicide attack by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS).

The hardline group is under assault in both Iraq - in the country's second city of Mosul, which ISIL seized in June 2014 - and in neighbouring Syria.

ISIL took vast swathes of Iraqi territory north and west of the capital in 2014.

Iraqi government forces backed by the US-led international coalition have since retaken many cities, including Tikrit and Fallujah.

But as ISIL has lost ground in Iraq, it has also retained the ability to stage regular attacks there.

Iraqi troops are now closing in on Mosul's old city, where some of the fiercest fighting is expected to unfold.

The militarised federal police say they are some 500 metres from al-Nuri mosque, where ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a rare public appearance in July 2014, announcing a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

ISIL fighters on Monday captured an Iraqi police colonel and eight other officers in western Mosul after they ran out of ammunition during fierce early morning clashes.

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official said the officers were caught around 3am local time in the Bab Jadid disctrict in Mosul, where Iraqi forces are battling ISIL after securing the eastern half of the city.</s>A car bomb has killed at least 23 people and wounded 45 more in Baghdad's southwestern Amil neighborhood, Iraqi officials said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Monday evening attack. The militants have carried out similar bombings in Baghdad and other cities as their hold on Mosul weakens.

The blast happened at 1600 UTC, a busy time in a business district of Baghdad.

Islamic State fighters have suffered a string of defeats over the past two years, losing more than 60 percent of the territory they once held in the country.

Iraqi forces, backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, are now closing in on retaking Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

The militarized Federal Police say they are about 500 meters from al-Nuri mosque, where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a rare public appearance in July 2014, announcing a self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

 

 The attack came as U.S. President Donald Trump met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi Monday in Washington for talks that included cooperation in the campaign to defeat Islamic State.</s>The blast rocked a busy commercial street in the mainly Shia Amil neighborhood, leaving more than 45 people injured, the news agency said, citing its sources.Baghdad had already been hit by a series of smaller bomb attacks since the beginning of the month, local media reported. On Sunday, a roadside bomb explosion killed one soldier and injured two others in the western part of the city.Similar incidents occurred in the city on March 16 and 17, in which two civilians died and six were injured in total.</s>BAGHDAD — Iraqi officials say a car bomb in Baghdad has killed at least 23 people and wounded 45 others.

The police and hospital officials say the attack Monday night targeted a commercial area in Baghdad's southwestern Amil neighborhood. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group has been behind previous Baghdad bombings.

Iraqi forces have been battling the extremists in Mosul, the country's second largest city, since October. Iraq declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January and is now fighting for the more densely populated western half.

The militants have suffered a string of defeats over the past two years, but have continued to regularly launch attacks in and around Baghdad.</s>BAGHDAD—A suicide car bombing in Baghdad killed at least 23 people on Monday and wounded 45 others, according to Iraqi officials.

The attack targeted a commercial area in Baghdad’s southwestern Amil neighbourhood, police and hospital officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Daesh, also known as ISIS, has been behind previous Baghdad bombings.

Battle for west Mosul could be deadliest yet for Iraqis</s>Iraqi police and hospital officials say a car bomb in Baghdad has killed at least 23 people and wounded 45 others.

That attack on the night of March 20 targeted a commercial area in the Iraqi capital's southwestern Amil neighborhood.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but so-called Islamic State (IS) militants have been behind similar Baghdad bombings in the past.

The attack came as Iraqi forces engaged in fierce combat against IS militants in the government's U.S.-backed offensive to recapture the northern city of Mosul.

Fighting on March 20 was continuing in an area near western Mosul's Old City.

The Mosul offensive began in October. Government forces declared eastern Mosul "fully liberated" in January.

The government's urban offensive against IS militants in the more densely populated west of Mosul began in late January.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP
A car bomb in Baghdad's southwestern Hayy Al-A'amel neighborhood kills at least 23 people, and wounds 45 others.