27 May 2013 Baghdad bombings

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27 May 2013 Baghdad bombings
Part of Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal)
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Baghdad
Baghdad (Iraq)
Date27 May 2013 (UTC+03:00)
Target Shia civilians
Attack type
Car bombings, roadside bombings
Weapons
Deaths71 [1]
Injured224 [1]

On 27 May 2013, a series of coordinated attacks occurred in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, killing 71 people and injuring more than 200 others. [1]

Contents

Background

From a peak of 3,000 deaths per month in 2006–07, violence in Iraq decreased steadily for several years before beginning to rise again in 2012. [2] In December 2012, Sunnis began to protest perceived mistreatment by the Shia-led government. The protests had been largely peaceful, but insurgents, emboldened by the war in neighboring Syria, stepped up attacks in the initial months of 2013. [3] The number of attacks rose sharply after the Iraqi army raided a protest camp in Hawija on 23 April 2013. [4] Overall, 712 people were killed in April according to UN figures, making it the nation's deadliest month in five years. [3] [4]

Post-Hawija targets have included both Sunni and Shia mosques, as well as security forces and tribal leaders. According to Mahmoud al-Sumaidaie, the deputy head of Iraq's Sunni Endowment, at least 29 Sunni mosques were attacked between mid-April and mid-May, resulting in the deaths of at least 65 worshippers. In contrast, only two Shiite places of worship were attacked during the same period, with a single person being killed. During the whole of 2012, a total of 10 Sunni mosques were attacked, signifying a recent increase in the sectarian nature of the insurgency. [5]

The Baghdad bombings occurred in the aftermath of Iraq's deadliest week in almost 5 years, as a series of deadly bombings and shootings across the country killed at least 449 people and left 732 others injured between 15 May and 21 May. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]

Attacks

Almost all of the bombings in the capital took place at marketplaces or in crowded shopping areas of Shi'ite districts. [13] These included a car bomb in Sadr City's Habibiya neighborhood that started with a driver faking a car accident and then running away from the scene. As onlookers gathered, the explosives were detonated, killing 13 people and injuring 35 others. [1] Blasts in Sabi al-Boor and Umm al-Maalif left 14 dead and 60 injured, while 6 were killed and 14 wounded in a blast on Sa'adoon Street. Bombings took place at two markets in Shaab and Jesr Diyala as well, where 10 were killed and 43 others injured. Similar attacks occurred in Bayaa, Hurriya, Kadhimiya, Jadida, Baladiyat and Sadriya - a total of 21 civilians lost their lives, while 72 others were wounded. Among the locations bombed was a Shia mosque in the Jadida district. Seven other fatalities were reported from Baghdad in various shootings and smaller attacks. [1]

Outside Baghdad

Although the majority of insurgent activity was focused on Baghdad, several attacks took place in the central and northern parts of the country as well. A car bombing killed 3 and injured 9 others in Madain, just south of the capital, while shootings in Mosul killed a policeman and injured two others and a civilian. [1] Three blasts on a farm in Shirqat killed two Sahwa militiamen and wounded three others. A police captain was critically injured after being shot outside his home in Iskandariya. Roadside blasts in Fallujah injured two soldiers, two civilians, as well as a police officer. Unidentified gunmen killed a teacher in Khalis, a Sahwa official in Kirkuk, and a government employee carrying his co-workers' salaries in Hit. A roadside bomb killed a police colonel in Qayara, while two other blasts in Abu Saida and Zab injured two civilians and a Sahwa member. [1]

Reactions

Domestic

Kareem Alewi, a member of the Iraqi Parliament representing the National Iraqi Alliance attributed the security deterioration to "foreign agendas aimed at dividing Iraq" and accused them of supporting al-Qaeda in Iraq and remnants of the former Baath Party. [14] Former Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani warned of a return to all-out sectarian violence, saying that politicians must "neglect the foreign plots and promote the national interests". "The current stage is the most difficult in the history of establishing the Iraqi State", he added. [15] Mahdi Haji, a member of the Kurdistan Alliance, blamed the recent increase in attacks on "some regional and neighboring countries". [16]

International

See also

Related Research Articles

The 22 January 2007 Baghdad bombings was a terrorist attack that occurred when two powerful car bombs ripped through the Bab Al-Sharqi market in central Baghdad, killing at least 88 people and wounding 160 others in one of the bloodiest days since the US invasion of Iraq. The attack occurred two days after the start of the 10-day Shiite mourning period leading up to Ashura. It also coincided with the arrival of 3,200 additional troops into Baghdad as part of the Iraq War troop surge of 2007.

The al-Khilani mosque bombing occurred on 19 June 2007 when a truck bomb exploded in front of the Shia Al-Khilani Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq. At least 78 people were killed and another 218 injured in the blast. The explosion occurred just two days after a four-day curfew banning vehicle movement in the city was lifted after the al-Askari Mosque bombing (2007), and just hours after 10,000 US troops began the Arrowhead Ripper offensive to the north of Baghdad. Because the site was a Shia mosque, the bombing is presumed to have been the work of Sunnis. The Sinak area where the explosion took place was also the targeted by a suicide car bomber on 28 May 2007, which resulted in 21 deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)</span> 2011-13 sectarian violence in Iraq following the US invasion and withdrawal

The Iraqi insurgency was an insurgency that began in late 2011 after the end of the Iraq War and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, resulting in violent conflict with the central government, as well as low-level sectarian violence among Iraq's religious groups.

The 13 June 2012 Iraq attacks were a series of simultaneous bombings and shootings that killed 93 people and wounded over 300 others. The attacks were carried out in seven different locations throughout Iraq.

A series of bombings and shootings occurred in Iraq on 16 August 2012, in one of the most violent attacks since post-US withdrawal insurgency has begun. At least 128 people were killed and more than 400 wounded in coordinated attacks across Iraq, making them the deadliest attacks in the country since October 2009, when 155 were killed in twin bombings near the Justice Ministry in Baghdad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012–2013 Iraqi protests</span> Sectarian protests and violence in Iraq during the post-U.S. insurgency

The 2012–2013 Iraqi protests started on 21 December 2012 following a raid on the home of Sunni Finance Minister Rafi al-Issawi and the arrest of 10 of his bodyguards. Beginning in Fallujah, the protests afterwards spread throughout Sunni Arab parts of Iraq. The protests centered on the issue of the alleged sectarianism of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Pro-Maliki protests also took place throughout central and southern Iraq, where there is a Shia Arab majority. In April 2013, sectarian violence escalated after the 2013 Hawija clashes. The protests continued throughout 2013, and in December Maliki used security forces to forcefully close down the main protest camp in Ramadi, leaving at least ten gunmen and three policemen dead in the process.

The 19 March 2013 Iraq attacks were a series of coordinated bombings and shootings across the capital Baghdad and several major cities in the north and central parts of the country. At least 98 people were killed and more than 240 others injured in the wave of violence, which took place on the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War.

The 2013 Hawija clashes relate to a series of violent attacks within Iraq, as part of the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests and Iraqi insurgency post-U.S. withdrawal. On 23 April, an army raid against a protest encampment in the city of Hawija, west of Kirkuk, led to dozens of civilian deaths and the involvement of several insurgent groups in organized action against the government, leading to fears of a return to a wide-scale Sunni–Shia conflict within the country. By 27 April, more than 300 people were reported killed and scores more injured in one of the worst outbreaks of violence since the U.S. withdrawal in December 2011.

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.

On 10 June 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck the central and northern parts of Iraq, killing at least 94 people and injuring 289 others.

On 16 June 2013, a series of coordinated bombings and shootings struck across several cities in Iraq, killing at least 54 people and injuring more than 170 others.

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.

On 21 September 2013, a series of car and suicide bombings struck the central and northern regions of Iraq, with the largest attack targeting a funeral in Sadr City, a predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood of Baghdad. The attacks left at least 115 dead and more than 200 others injured.

On 4 December 2013, a series of coordinated attacks took place in central and northern Iraq, with the biggest assault taking place at a government building and an adjacent shopping mall in Kirkuk. More than 30 people were killed in the attacks that day, while at least 106 were injured.

The following lists events the happened in 2013 in Iraq.

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

References

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  2. Kareen Raheem (15 April 2013). "Bombs kill more than 30 across Iraq before local poll". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Two blasts at Iraqi Sunni mosque kill 43". Reuters. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Deadliest day in months as bombs strike Sunni areas in Iraq, killing 76". Fox News. Associated Press. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  5. Attacks against mosques and husseiniyahs stoke Iraq fears of sectarian strife Archived 30 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine . Middle East Online.
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  15. "Mashhadani warns form suspicious projects to provoke sectarian war in Iraq". Iraqi News. 28 May 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
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