Seven people killed and 20 others are wounded in blast at mosque in Baghdad

A bomb blast killed seven people at a Shiite Muslim mosque in eastern Baghdad on Friday and wounded more than 20, police sources said.

The explosion took place in the Baladiyat neighborhood. A senior police source said that either a suicide belt or improvised explosive device had been used in the attack, for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The source said the death toll was expected to rise with many of those wounded in serious condition.

It was a rare attack on a Shi’ite place of worship in the Iraqi capital.

Baghdad’s security improved significantly with the defeat of Daesh in 2017 and bomb attacks of any kind in the city have been rare since then.

Figures by the Civilian Protection and Advocacy Group (CPAG) also show lower casualty levels in early 2019. But casualties have increased dramatically during Ramadan, according to CPAG, suggesting that the UN’s next report may record higher levels of harm by the Taliban. In May, the group attacked Counterpart International, an NGO in Kabul, killing five people.

Although the Taliban did not declare a ceasefire during Eid, as some had hoped, attacks appeared to decrease over the holiday, according to data compiled by the New York Times, while the usually incessant stream of battlefield reporting on its English-language website stopped.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, confirmed to TRT World over Whatsapp that, “We had reduced the number of attacks in the days of Eid,” but did not say there had been a ceasefire.

According to Kate Clark, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, pressure from UNAMA and the media has made the Taliban somewhat sensitive to the issue of civilian harm.

“It has put the issue on the agenda for them,” Clark told TRT World. “It hurts them to be seen as associated with civilian casualties.”

The Taliban has a regular dialogue with UNAMA, helping to highlight humanitarian issues.

Source: Daily Sabah