9 killed in car bomb attack in Baghdad

At least nine people were killed and 32 others wounded on Friday in a car bomb explosion in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua.

The attack occurred in the evening when a booby-trapped car detonated at a thoroughfare in Resalah district in southwestern Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The blast caused damages to several nearby shops, buildings and civilian cars, the source said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for targeting Iraqi security forces as well as crowded places, including markets, cafes and mosques across the country.

Terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts killed 382 Iraqis and wounded 908 others in January across Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said.

The attacks came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from its last major stronghold in and around Mosul.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the United States, which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.

Source: Xinhua