BAGHDAD: A bomb exploded in a busy Baghdad market on Wednesday, wounding at least 15 people, Iraq’s military said.
The blast occurred when an improvised explosive device placed under a kiosk detonated in the Maridi market area of Sadr City, a suburb in the eastern part of the capital. The military said the wounded had minor injuries and most left hospital soon after receiving treatment.
Slippers were seen among the debris of the explosion as police cordoned off the area. A metal door was perforated by shrapnel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Daesh group has claimed similar attacks in the area before.
Security forces launched an investigation to determine the perpetrators, the statement said.
It was the second time this year that a bomb hit a market in the densely populated neighborhood. In April, at least four people were killed in a car bomb attack in Sadr City. That blast was caused by an explosive device attached to a parked car at the market.
Large bomb attacks, once an almost daily occurrence in Baghdad, have slowed in recent years since IS was defeated in 2017.
But attacks persist. In January, over 30 people were killed in a twin suicide bombing in a busy commercial area in central Baghdad. It was the most deadly bombing in three years to strike Iraq’s capital.
Roadside bombs continue to target primarily Iraqi security forces outside the capital, especially across northern Iraq where IS militants are known to have hideouts.
Iraqi military: Bomb explodes in Baghdad suburb, wounding 15
https://arab.news/897gn
Iraqi military: Bomb explodes in Baghdad suburb, wounding 15
- Iraqi military confirmed the explosion without providing details
- The blast was heard in a market in Sadr City
Gaza families struggle to recover from days of torrential rains that killed 12 people
- The downpour, which dumped more than 150 milliliters (9 inches) of rain on some parts of Gaza over the past week, turned dirt lanes to mud and flooded tents in camps for displaced people
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Palestinians in Gaza struggled to recover Tuesday from torrential rains that battered the enclave for days, flooding camps for the displaced, collapsing buildings already badly damaged in the two-year war and leaving at least 12 dead, including a two-week-old baby.
The downpour, which dumped more than 150 milliliters (9 inches) of rain on some parts of Gaza over the past week, turned dirt lanes to mud and flooded tents in camps for displaced people.
The Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, said Tuesday the two-week-old died of hypothermia as a result of the weather. The baby was brought to the hospital a few days ago and was transferred to intensive care but died on Monday.
In Gaza City, a man died Tuesday after a home already damaged during Israeli strikes, collapsed because of the heavy rainfall, according to Shifa Hospital.
Members of the Al-Hosari family said 30 people lived in the building, but just nine were home when it collapsed. The man who was killed was a worker who had come to fix the walls, they said. Five people were injured.
The Health Ministry said the remaining 10 people were killed last week, also from buildings collapsing from the rain and heavy winds.
Emergency workers warned people not to congregate in damaged buildings due to concerns of collapse, though so much of the territory has been reduced to rubble, there are few places to escape the rain. In July, the United Nations Satellite Center estimated that almost 80 percent of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.
“When we hear the news that there is a storm, our whole lives change, we start thinking about where to stay, to go, where to put our mattresses and blankets, and where to keep our children safe and warm,” said Mohammed Gharableh, a father displaced from the southern city of Rafah.
“During every storm like this, water penetrates our tents, and our mattresses and blankets get soaked,” he added.
In Israel, areas near Gaza received between 60 mm to 160 mm (2 to 6 inches) of rain in the past week, according to the Israel Meteorological Service, which in some cases is more than twice the average amount of rain for this time of year.
Aid groups say despite two months of a ceasefire, not enough shelter material has been getting into Gaza to help Palestinians deal with the winter. Recently released Israeli military figures suggest it hasn’t met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza a day, though Israel disputes that finding.
The vast majority of Gaza’s 2 million people have been displaced, and most people live in vast tent camps stretching along the coast, or set up among the shells of damaged buildings. The buildings lack adequate flooding infrastructure and people use cesspits dug near tents as toilets.
The Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, called COGAT, said close to 270,000 tents and tarps have entered Gaza over the past few months as well as winter items, shelter equipment, and sanitation supplies.
But some aid groups disputed the figures and said more supplies, especially winter items, are desperately needed.
Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, last week said it has tracked just 68,000 tents that have entered Gaza via the UN, non-governmental organizations, and various countries. Many of the tents aren’t properly insulated for winter, it says.
