November 2016 Hillah suicide truck bombing | |
---|---|
Part of Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) and Persecution of Shias by the Islamic State | |
Location | Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq |
Date | 24 November 2016 |
Target | Petrol station |
Attack type | Suicide truck bombing |
Weapons | Truck bombs |
Deaths | 125 (+1) [1] |
Injured | 95+ [1] |
Perpetrator | Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
A suicide bombing occurred in Iraq on 24 November 2016 [2] when a truck bomb exploded at a petrol station in Hillah, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) from southern Baghdad, killing at least 125 people and injuring many others.
Shia pilgrims were en route back to Iran after the 2016 Arba'een Pilgrimage. [3] [4] [5] Besides Iranians, people from Basra and Nasiriyah were also killed in the attack. [6] [7]
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for it.
The pilgrims were on their way back to Iran from the holy city of Karbala after participating in the annual Arba'een Pilgrimage. According to a police official, five buses filled with pilgrims stopped by a famous restaurant, next to a petrol station, burst into flames after the detonation of an "explosives-laden truck". [8] According to a report, the bomb had been packed with 500 liters of ammonium nitrate. [1]
Reportedly, the Hillah suicide truck bombing happened a day after dozens of bombings in and around Baghdad by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in which 31 people were killed and over 100 injured. [9] [10] There were some attacks during Arba'een this year, but these were insignificant compared to incidents in previous years. Despite ongoing dangers, people from around the world continued their journey to Karbala. [11] According to Iraqi officials, approximately three million Iranians visited Iraq, making them the largest contingent of foreigners at the Arba'een Pilgrimage in 2016. [12]
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attack. [5]
After the offensive launched on 17 October to liberate the last remaining city in Iraq under ISIL control, Mosul, Daesh intensified their attacks aiming to weaken the Mosul offensive. [8]
Hillah, also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq on the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, 100 km (62 mi) south of Baghdad. The population was estimated to be about 455,700 in 2018. It is the capital of Babylon Province and is located adjacent to the ancient city of Babylon, and close to the ancient cities of Borsippa and Kish. It is situated in a predominantly agricultural region which is extensively irrigated with water provided by the Hilla canal, producing a wide range of crops, fruit and textiles. Its name may be derived from the word "beauty" in Arabic. The river runs in the middle of the town, and it is surrounded by date palm trees and other forms of arid vegetation, reducing the harmful effects of dust and desert wind.
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.
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.
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.
In January 2011, a series of insurgent shooting and bombing attacks were launched throughout Iraq.
Throughout January 2012, a series of bombing and shooting attacks took place in multiple locations in Iraq, seemingly targeting Shia Muslims.
This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq in 2015.
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.
The Arba'in pilgrimage is the world's largest annual public gathering. It is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia imam. Every year, on the twentieth of Safar, also known as Arba'in, millions of pilgrims flock to Karbala, Iraq, often arriving there on foot from the nearby city of Najaf. Arba'in marks forty days after the tenth of Muharram, known as Ashura. On this day in 61 AH, Husayn was killed, alongside most of his relatives and his small retinue, in the Battle of Karbala against the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. The battle followed Husayn's refusal to pledge his allegiance to Yazid, who is often portrayed by Muslim historians as impious and immoral. In Shia Islam, Karbala symbolizes the eternal struggle between good and evil, the pinnacle of self-sacrifice, and the ultimate sabotage of Muhammad's prophetic mission.
This article lists terrorist incidents in Iraq during 2016:
The 2016 Hillah suicide truck bombing was a suicide bombing on March 6, 2016, that killed at least 60 people and another 70 were injured after ramming his explosives-laden truck into a security checkpoint at one of entrances to the Iraqi city of Hillah, south of Baghdad. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claims responsibility for the attack.
This is a timeline of events during the War in Iraq in 2016.
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.
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.
{{cite web}}
: |first=
has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)