Friday was the anniversary of the martyrdom of the ninth Imam, Muhammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Mūsā (al-Jawad), who died in 835 C.E. Many pilgrims were in Baghdad to visit his shrine in the Kadhimiya district, and they may have been the targets for today’s bombers.
At least 54 were killed and 76 were wounded:
In Baghdad, at least three rockets landed in eastern neighborhoods (including Madina Sadr, Mashtal, and Baghdad Jadida), killing five people and wounding 15 more. A fire at an Obeidi weapons facility belonging to a Shi’ite militia group is the source of the rockets. The cause of the fire is unknown.
Elsewhere in the capital, a bomb in Ghazaliya killed two people and wounded eight more. Three people were killed and eight were wounded in a bombing at a commercial area in western Baghdad.Five people were killed and 20 were wounded in other attacks on produce markets.
An attack on security forces at a base in Metabijh, Salah ad Din province, left nine dead and 24 wounded.
Gunmen wounded a soldier at his home in Abu Saida.
Near Qayara, airstrikes left 21 militants dead.
Security forces in Ein Sadid killed eight militants.
A suicide bomber was killed in Tarmiya.
