Bombings in Baghdad, dozens of dead and wounded. Iraqi army wrests Nimrud from ISIS

This morning a suicide attack in the south-west of the capital has caused eight deaths. Over the weekend a series of explosions killed at least 11 civilians, dozens wounded. So far there are no official claims. Special forces have recaptured the ancient Assyrian city. The jihadists had destroyed heritage sites, considered pagan.

Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least eight people have died and six were wounded in a suicide attack this morning by a commando suicide bomber in a town south-west of Baghdad, Ain al-Tamer, an area hitherto spared from violence. The assault involved six suicide bombers, some of which may have been killed by security forces before blowing themselves up.

The morning's attack is just the latest in a series that hit the Iraqi capital and other parts of the country over the weekend, killing at least 11 civilians and wounding dozens. Residential and commercial districts were the main targets of the explosions.

So far there have been no official claims, even if the suspicions favor the Islamic State (IS). In increasing difficulty in Mosul under the offensive launched on 17 October by the army and Kurdish Peshmerga, the Daesh fighters have so far responded with attacks in other parts of the country.

Security sources report that a car bomb exploded in the south-east Kamaliya district, causing three deaths and eight injured. Police surrounded the area and ambulances have transported the wounded to local hospitals.

Two other civilians were killed and eight were injured in the blast of an improvised explosive device near a shopping center in Abu Ghraib, 25 km west of the capital. A civilian was killed and five others injured in a car bomb that hit the north-eastern district of Sadr City.

Also yesterday, a bomb exploded at the passage of a car in Muhammad Qasim Road, in the east of Baghdad, causing a victim and three wounded. Four other people were killed in the explosion of a bomb in Sha'ab district to the north of the capital.

Meanwhile the Iraqi army and Kurdish militias offensive continues towards Mosul. Over the weekend special forces wrested Nimrud from the jihadists.  The ancient Assyrian city came under the control of the IS, and whose heritage sites were devastated by the militia because considered pagan.

Nimrud is located on the east bank of the Tigris River, about 30 kilometers south of Mosul, in northern Iraq. In March 2015 Iraqi historical and government officials had condemned the destruction of the archaeological site, which dates back to the 13th century BC. For UNESCO the ravages committed by men of the Caliph constitute a war crime.

In an official statement the Iraqi army says that "the troops of the Ninth Armored Division liberated the city of Nimrud" and have "raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings." At the same time the soldiers "have inflicted heavy losses in terms of lives and equipment on the so-called Islamic State".

• Iraq mosul baghdad Islamic
• state jihad fundamentalism offensive army Kurds