Attacks kill 9 civilians in Iraqi capital

By Ibrahim Salih and Jamal Badrani

BAGHDAD

At least nine people were killed, mostly women, in a spate of attacks in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Monday, according to a local police officer.

Unidentified gunmen broke into a house east of Baghdad and shot dead a man and four women, officer Yasser al-Mustafa told Anadolu Agency.

The attackers had fled the scene unscathed.

Two women were also killed when gunmen stopped their car in Zayyuna, east of Baghdad, al-Mustafa said.

Another man was gunned down by armed men in al-Husseiniya, north of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, a bomb blast killed one man and injured seven others near a marketplace west of Baghdad, the police officer said.

While there has been no claim of responsibility, the Iraqi capital has in recent months witnessed violent attacks -- which often target civilians -- on an almost daily basis.

Iraqi authorities blame the violence on the Daesh terrorist group, which still enjoys a significant presence in war-torn Iraq despite having suffered a string of recent military defeats.

Iraq’s security situation has deteriorated markedly since mid-2014, when Daesh captured Mosul -- the country’s second largest city -- along with vast swathes of territory in the country’s northern and western regions.

In recent months, the Iraqi army, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and local allies on the ground, has since managed to retake much territory.