Bombings targeting shoppers across central Iraq and clashes near the militant-held city of Fallujah killed at least 42 people Thursday, authorities said.
No one claimed responsibility for the string of bombings that began Thursday afternoon, mostly from parked car bombs and one explosive planted in an outdoor market. However, they bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida and other terrorists, who frequently use car bombs and suicide attacks to target public areas and government buildings in their bid to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government.
In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting shoppers in the southwestern Amil neighborhood killed seven people and wounded 17, police said. A bomb at a cafe in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood killed four people and wounded 15, authorities said. A bomb in a commercial street in central Baghdad killed three people and wounded 13, police said, while an explosion near the Green Zone killed three people and wounded eight.
