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At Least Two Dozen Dead As Car Bombs Explode In Baghdad

Iraqis inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in the Ameen neighborhood in eastern Baghdad on Sunday.
Khalid Mohammed
/
AP
Iraqis inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in the Ameen neighborhood in eastern Baghdad on Sunday.

At least two dozen people are dead and dozens injured Sunday in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, after multiple car bombs exploded within minutes of each other in mainly Shiite areas.

NPR's Kelly McEvers is reporting on the blasts for our Newscast unit.

"The explosions targeted shops and outdoor markets in Shiite districts around the city. After the blast helicopters were circling over many parts of the city.

"Overall violence has gone down in recent years but lately there've been a string of suicide attacks targeting Shiite interests and security forces.

"A suicide bomber killed a top Iraqi army intelligence officer on Saturday.

Tensions between Shiites and Sunnis are on the rise again in Iraq, as widespread protests in Sunni areas have called for the downfall of the Shiite-led government."

The Associated Press reports that the attacks began when a car bomb exploded in Sadr City, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood. Two parked cars went off elsewhere in the area.

Here's more from the AP:

"Simultaneous explosions hit the southeastern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Amin, where the force of the blasts left behind little except the mangled chassis of two cars that delivered their payloads.

"An open-air market in Husseiniya, just northeast of the capital, and the Kamaliya area in Baghdad's eastern suburbs were also hit.

"Another car bomb exploded near street vendors and a police car in the central commercial district of Karradah."

The AP reports that just this month violent attacks have killed more than 100 people in Iraq.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.