Iraq: explosion rocks Baghdad's Sadr City

At least one death in blast caused by car bomb

An explosion rocked Baghdad's eastern Sadr City district on Thursday, security sources said.

One person was killed and 12 were injured in the explosion that destroyed five cars, Iraq's Interior Ministry said. Medics and police said the toll was higher.

Police said the explosion was caused by a car bomb.

Brig Gen Husham Khalifa Kadhum of the Interior Ministry's Federal Police said the car was moving when the bomb went off.
An investigation is underway into whether it was a suicide attack or the bomb had been attached to the car to kill the driver, he said.

Thick black smoke billowed from an outdoor market for second-hand goods in the largely Shiite district of the city as ambulances rushed to the scene.

The blast came a day after an explosives-laden drone struck a military complex at Erbil International Airport in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

A previously unknown Shiite militia claimed responsibility for the drone attack against US-led international coalition troops late on Wednesday.

Attacks in Baghdad have been rare in recent years, since the government liberated areas held by ISIS.

However, in January a double suicide attack on a market in the southern suburb of Yusufiya killed 32 civilians and injured more than 100.

It was the first attack since January 2018 – a month after Iraq declared victory over ISIS.