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11/21/2024 09:33:40 pm

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Iraq Military Intelligence Headquarters Hit By Bomb; 13 Dead

ISIS bombs Baghdad

(Photo : REUTERS/Ahmed Malik)

At least 13 people were killed and 24 wounded after a car bomb hit a military intelligence center on Saturday in Karada, Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.

According to reports, a suicide bomber had rammed a car rigged with explosives into the intelligence office's gate.

And while the structure is enforced with concrete blast walls, the building's entrance - located at a busy intersection - makes it an easy target for attack.

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A medical official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that among those dead were six civilians and five security staff.

It is still unclear who staged the attack but suicide bombings are typical of Sunni blocs including the ones loyal to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS, news agency Aljazeera noted.

Later in the day, three bombs had gone off in a crowded commercial area north of Kirkuk, Baghdad.

The blast had killed 31 people and injured dozens, said Kirkuk deputy police head Tarhan Abdel-Rahman.

Saturday's attacks came a day after a deadly attack was carried out by Shia militants at a Sunni mosque in a Bani Wais village, east of Diyala province. Sources said the bloc had set off a bomb near the mosque's entrance then opened fire inside the mosque, leaving nearly 73 dead including four Shiite militias and at least one child.

Locals speculate the attack was retribution for the roadside bombing that occurred at a Shia recruitment event but Sunni officials argue the Shiite militias could have carried out the attacks as reprisal for the bombing of a convoy.

Qais al-Khazali, leader of major Shiite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, denied responsibility for the attack. He condemned the killing and called it "barbaric."

The recent sectarian attacks and conflicting reports surrounding the bombings could stall efforts of Iraq's Prime Minister-elect Haider al-Abadi as he tries to unite the Sunnis and establish a government by Sept. 10 to deal with the ISIS conflict.

Two key Sunni assemblies have already withdrawn from the talks on the formation of a new government in light of Friday's attack.

On Saturday, al-Abadi urged all political factions to present their nominations for ministerial posts for the new government.

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