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Iraq’s Bloody Day, ISIS Kills Dozens | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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People look at a burned vehicle at the site of car bomb attack in a busy square at Baghdad’s sprawling Sadr City district, in Iraq January 2, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad


Baghdad– At least 35 people were killed and 61 others injured in a terrorist attack in Sadr City, northeast Baghdad, which is a predominantly Shi’ite Muslim neighborhood.

Later, ISIS terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted a workers’ gathering.

According to Reuters, nine of the victims were women in a passing minibus, whose charred bodies were visible inside the burnt-out remains of the vehicle. Blood stained the ground nearby.

Later on, a parked car bomb targeting a religious figure near a mosque in western Baghdad killed five people, and another blast close to a hospital in the center killed one civilian and wounded nine, police and medical sources said.

In the southeastern Zaafraniya district, two more people were killed and seven wounded when a car bomb exploded. A bomb affixed to a vehicle in the eastern area of Baladiyat killed one person and wounded four.

Clashes between Iraqi Forces and ISIS terrorists continued inside and around Mosul.

Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) spokesperson Sabah al-Numani said that CTS forces blew up several ISIS car bombs before they reached their targets and linked up with the Rapid Response forces, an elite Interior Ministry unit.

Numani also said that CTS was clearing North Karama district of remaining militants, the fourth area the unit has retaken in Mosul in the past week.

As clashes continued in Mosul, ISIS targeted military positions away from the main battlefield, killing at least 16 pro-government fighters and cutting a strategic road linking Mosul to Baghdad, although authorities later said they had regained control of it.

According to Reuters, terrorists also attacked a military barracks near Biji, 180 Km north of Baghdad, killing four soldiers and injuring 12 others, some of whom were Sunni tribal fighters.

Sharqat Mayor Ali al-Dawdouh said that ISIS took control of three checkpoints on the main road between Biji and Sharqat. He added that bombing is continuous in Sharqat and at least two children were killed.

In the attacks in Samarra, about 100 km north of Baghdad, security sources said multiple gunmen wearing suicide vests took over two police stations, killing at least seven policemen.

A security source in Saladin district said that ISIS terrorists launched another attack on the Fateha and al-Sukareyyat axes. German Press Agency (DPA) quoted the source saying that ISIS jihadists were able to advance on Makhoul Mountain, adding that shells reached Biji Refinery.

Iraqi Security Forces were able to regain control over most of the areas that ISIS lost, according to another source. He pointed out that the security forces killed at least 16 militants and destroyed many of their vehicles.