A series of attacks targeting public places killed 12 people in Baghdad on Saturday, said Iraqi authorities, as the Prime Minister announced the arrest of an aide to Saddam Hussein.
Police officials say a car bomb went off about noon Saturday near shops selling car parts in southeastern Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 13 others. Another bomb blast at an outdoor market killed three shoppers and wounded eight in the city’s eastern suburbs. Also, police said a bomb exploded near a row of shops in the capital’s western neighborhood of Baiyaa, killing two and wounding 10.
Later on, a bomb blast near a vegetable and fruit wholesale market in southern Baghdad killed two people and wounded three others. Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. Iraq sees near-daily attacks that are claimed by IS.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on Saturday that security forces arrested Abdel Baqi al-Sadun, a senior official in the disbanded Baath Party.
