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UN envoy slams car bomb attack in Iraqi capital

Xinhua, May 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN secretary-general's special representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis, strongly condemned a car bomb attack which occurred Wednesday in a busy market in Sadr City district in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here.

Kubis urged the authorities to do their utmost to quickly bring the perpetrators to justice, according to Dujarric who spoke at a daily news briefing here.

The attack, which reportedly killed at least 64 people and wounded 87 others, came after a car bomb was detonated near a restaurant in Baquba on May 9, which also left large numbers of casualties.

The Islamic State (IS), an extremist group, also known as the ISIS or ISIL, claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to a message on the Twitter account for Amaq, a media outlet linked to the terrorist group.

"These are cowardly terrorist attacks on civilians who have done nothing but going about their normal daily lives," said Kubis in a press release issued early Wednesday by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). "Such acts of terrorist violence are certainly against all the principles of decency and humanity, and as such must be strongly condemned."

Kubis expressed his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish the injured a speedy recovery.

Iraq is currently witnessing a wave of violence since the IS group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014.

Earlier, a report by the UNAMI estimated that 741 Iraqis were killed and 1,374 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in April across Iraq. Endit