2017 Nasiriyah attacks

Last updated

2017 Nasiriyah attacks
Part of the War in Iraq
Iraq physical map.svg
Red pog.svg
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah (Iraq)
Location Nasiriyah, Iraq
Date14 September 2017 (2017-09-14)
Target Iraqi Shias, Iranian pilgrims
Attack type
 Shooting, Car bombing, suicide bombings
Weapons Explosive belts, Automatic weapons, Grenades
Deaths84 (+4 attackers)
Injured93
PerpetratorIslamic State flag.svg  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

On 14 September 2017, several members of ISIL staged multiple attacks on the outskirts of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, killing at least 84 people and injuring 93 others. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Background

The attacks came as the Islamic State group faced a series of crushing defeats both in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, including the loss of Mosul after a nine-month battle in early July, followed by a successful Iraqi government offensive against the nearby town of Tal Afar in late August. [4] U.S. officials said the terrorist organization had been severely degraded after losing almost 90 percent of the territory it captured during the 2014 blitz across Iraq, including populated places that held factories for creating car bombs and improvised explosive devices. This meant that members would increasingly rely on a combination of suicide bombers, automatic weapons and other methods as their primary means of targeting civilian and government infrastructure, as evidenced by a series of attacks in Tikrit, as well as a bombing at an ice cream parlor in Baghdad. [2]

Analysts and journalists alike warned that despite the recent setbacks, the group remained capable of launching attacks across Iraq, especially at soft targets such as restaurants and entertainment venues. [3]

Attacks

In the first attack, which took place around lunchtime, several gunmen and at least one suicide bomber wearing military uniforms arrived in three cars and entered the Fadak restaurant on Freeway 1 to Baghdad, a popular stop for pilgrims travelling north to Najaf and Karbala. [3] The assailants then began shooting with automatic weapons and throwing grenades, killing or injuring at least 50 people. [2] [4] Shortly afterwards, two suicide bombers, including one driving an explosives-rigged car, blew themselves up at a nearby police checkpoint, causing further casualties.[ citation needed ] The twin attacks killed 84 people and injured 93 others, many of them seriously. [1] [2]

According to provincial governor Yahya al-Nassiri, the majority of casualties were expected to be Iranian and Iraqi Shia pilgrims, who were inside the restaurant at the time of the first attack.[ citation needed ]

The pro-Islamic State Amaq News Agency claimed the group was responsible for the twin attacks. At least one report said the attackers were disguised as members of the Popular Mobilization Forces—a mainly Shia group that has fought alongside Iraqi forces against IS. [3]

The twin attacks represented one of the highest single-day tolls of any similar incident in southern Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003, and were the deadliest since the government recapture of Mosul in July 2017. [1] The Islamic State group had previously targeted Iraqi and Iranian pilgrims during the 2016 Arba'een Pilgrimage, killing more than 120 people in multiple truck bombings in the central town of Hillah. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

In 2003, there were 25 suicide bombings executed by 32 attackers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2007</span>

This list details terrorist incidents occurring in Iraq in 2007. In 2007, the US sent 20,000 additional troops into combat as part of a troop surge. There were 442 bombings in 2007, the second-most in a single year during the Iraq War. Major events included a January 16 attack on Mustansiriyah University, which killed 70 and injured 180, and February 3 bombings at the Sadriyah market in Baghdad, which killed 135 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008</span>

This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2008. In 2008, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On February 1, a pair of bombs detonated at a market in Baghdad, killing 99 people and injuring 200. Two other particularly deadly attacks occurred on March 6, and June 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2009</span>

This article details major terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2009. In 2009, there were 257 suicide bombings in Iraq. On April 23, a suicide bombing to a restaurant in Miqdadiyah killed 57 people, while a separate bombing in southeastern Baghdad killed 28. The next day, on April 24, a Shi'a shrine was targeted, in a bombing that killed 60. October and December saw two attacks kill over 100 people, with bombings on October 25 and December 8.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2010</span>

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2010. Major attacks include a 1 February attack killing 54 in Baghdad, and a 10 May attack killed 45 at a fabrics factory in Hillah.

Throughout January 2012, a series of bombing and shooting attacks took place in multiple locations in Iraq, seemingly targeting Shia Muslims.

From 15 to 21 May 2013, a series of deadly bombings and shootings struck the central and northern parts of Iraq, with a few incidents occurring in towns in the south and far west as well. The attacks killed at least 449 people and left 732 others injured in one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence in years.

During the first two weeks of July 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck across several cities in Iraq, killing at least 389 people and injuring more than 800 others.

The following lists events that happened during 2014 in Iraq.

The following lists events the happened in 2013 in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the War in Iraq (2014)</span>

The Timeline of the War in Iraq covers the War in Iraq, a war which erupted that lasted in Iraq from 2013 to 2017, during the first year of armed conflict.

Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State (IS), an Islamist terrorist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.

In May 2016, the Islamic State conducted a series of bombing attacks in and around Shia neighbourhoods in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, killing and wounding hundreds. According to ISIL, attacks were aimed at Shia fighters.

On 7 July 2016, at least 56 people were killed and 75 injured after a group of attackers stormed the Mausoleum of Sayid Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi, a Shia holy site in Balad, Iraq. The attackers included suicide car bombers, suicide bombers on foot, and several gunmen. They attacked Shia pilgrims celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. There were three suicide bombers, and one of them was killed by security personnel. There were other attackers too. ISIL also launched several mortars into the area.

On 15 October 2016, four attacks in and around Baghdad, Iraq, resulted in the deaths of at least 60 victims and at least seven attackers, while injuring at least 80 more people. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are believed to be behind the suicide bombing and two mass shootings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">November 2016 Hillah suicide truck bombing</span> Terrorist attack in Hillah, Iraq

A suicide bombing occurred in Iraq on 24 November 2016 when a truck bomb exploded at a petrol station in Hillah, some 100 kilometers from southern Baghdad, killing at least 125 people and injuring many others.

This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq of 2013 to 2017 in its final year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Iraq attack death toll rises to 84". Yahoo! News. 16 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Double attack in southern Iraq kills more than 80". The Washington Post . 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Iraq: At least 60 die in twin attacks near Nasiriya". BBC News . 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Deadly ISIL attacks hit southern Iraq's Thi Qar". Al Jazeera English. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  5. ↑ Dpa Correspondents, dpa (TNS). "Death toll in central Iraq suicide bombing rises to 125". The Dispatch–Argus . Moline, Illinois. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2017.{{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)

31°3′N46°16′E / 31.050°N 46.267°E / 31.050; 46.267

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.