Scores Killed as Bombings Target Baghdad Shi’ites

Major Attacks Just a Normal Day in Summer 2013

At least 69 people were killed and over 170 others were wounded today in several bombings across the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, with targets centering on Shi’ite neighborhoods and places where Shi’ites were celebrating Eid al-Fitr.

In any other country, bombings targeting worshipers during the Eid would be a specific holiday-based event, but in Iraq this is all entirely coincidental, with the bombers hitting Shi’ites during celebrations just because that’s where they happened to be.

69 people getting killed in Baghdad isn’t that big of a thing in Iraq anymore, and it happens several times a month this summer, as death tolls are soaring to a level not seen since the days of the US occupation.

Today’s attacks centered mostly on car bombs, a favored attack for al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which has been revitalized by the ongoing civil war in Syria and growing resentment toward the Maliki government. After over 1,000 people were killed in July, the month of August is shaping up to be another dismal month for the nation’s security.

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.