21 Bombs Across Iraqi Capital: At Least 113 Killed

Hundreds Wounded as Blasts Target Shi'ite Neighborhoods


At least 113 people are already confirmed dead and many more expected to follow today after 21 apparently coordinated bombings detonated in Shi’ite neighborhoods across Baghdad. At least 11 car bombs were reported, along with IEDs, sticky bombs and suicide bombs.

The blasts tore through markets, cafes and other areas largely populated by civilians. Officials have differed on the number of wounded but the lowest official figure to come out recently was 180, with others saying it was upwards of 300 wounded across all the sites.

The attack comes just a day after the Iraqi government released its official data claiming that the civilian death toll in October had dramatically fallen, and just two days after a failed rescue attempt at a Baghdad Christian church left at least 58 people dead.

So far no group has claimed credit for today’s attacks but given that the attacks appear to have centered around Shi’ite sites it seems a good bet that it is one of the Sunni sectarian groups which have been increasingly active since the March election.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.