ISIL suicide attacks kill 32 in southern Iraq

Special to WorldTribune.com

Two car bombs set off by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) killed at least 32 people and injured 75 in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah on May 1.

Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Samawah on May 1. /Reuters
Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Samawah on May 1. /Reuters

The initial blast was near a local government building and the second about 60 meters (65 yards) away at a bus station, police sources said. The second car bomb was detonated when security forces responded to the first bombing.

Samawah is located in a Shi’ite-majority province 230 kilometers (140 miles) south of Baghdad. Attacks by ISIL in Samawah are rare as most of the terror group’s area of control is in majority-Sunni regions.

Meanwhile, organizers of a group of Shia Muslim activists who occupied Iraq’s parliament on April 30 have called an end to the sit-in in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered the arrest of those, mostly supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, who had stormed parliament.

The protesters were angered by what they said were delays in approving a new cabinet, government neglect of much-needed reforms, the ongoing struggle against ISIL and declining oil revenues.

The Iraqi government currently ranks 161st out of 168 on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index.

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