Blasts kill 19 as Kerry lands in Iraq capital
11 Sep 2014 12:10 AM GMT
Bomb attacks killed 19 people in Baghdad on Wednesday as US secretary of state John Kerry visited the Iraqi capital for talks on combating jihadists, officials said. They said a suicide car bombing followed by a car bomb struck near a police checkpoint in a crowded area of eastern Baghdad, also wounding at least 52 people. At least two of the dead were policemen.
There was no immediate claim for the attack but suicide bombings are a hallmark of Sunni extremists, including those from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. IS-led militants overran swathes of Iraq in June, and security forces, Shia militias and Kurdish fighters have been battling to regain ground. The US began an air campaign against IS in Iraq on August 8, mainly in support of Kurdish forces in the north, though American warplanes have also carried out limited strikes in Salaheddin and Anbar provinces. Kerry’s previously unannounced visit in Baghdad was the first stop on a regional tour to build support for a new US strategy, which he has said will only work with the backing of the ‘broadest possible coalition of partners around the globe’.
There was no immediate claim for the attack but suicide bombings are a hallmark of Sunni extremists, including those from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group. IS-led militants overran swathes of Iraq in June, and security forces, Shia militias and Kurdish fighters have been battling to regain ground. The US began an air campaign against IS in Iraq on August 8, mainly in support of Kurdish forces in the north, though American warplanes have also carried out limited strikes in Salaheddin and Anbar provinces. Kerry’s previously unannounced visit in Baghdad was the first stop on a regional tour to build support for a new US strategy, which he has said will only work with the backing of the ‘broadest possible coalition of partners around the globe’.
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