Deadly Wave of Violence in Iraq on 10th Anniversary of U.S. Invasion
March 19, 2013
A wave of deadly bombings in and around Baghdad, primarily in Shi’ite Muslim neighborhoods, left at least 48 people dead and hundreds injured on the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The coordinated attacks included at least 15 car bombings, multiple roadside bombings, and shootings by snipers, all during the morning rush hour in the Iraqi capital. The deadliest of the attacks, which took place outside the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, killed 7 people and injured at least 20 others. Another 6 people were killed and 15 others wounded when a bomb exploded outside a restaurant near the main entrance to the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the U.S. embassy is located.
Baghdad (AP/Wide World)
A militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq, which includes al-Qa’ida in Iraq, is known to have accelerated its attacks on Shi’ite targets in an attempt to revive the secular insurgency that left tens of thousands of people dead between 2005 and 2008. Their aim is to bring down the Shi’ite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Iraqi government is largely deadlocked, with Maliki at odds with Kurds in the north, most Sunni groups, and even factions within his own Shi’ite community. Iraq was controlled for years by that country’s Sunni minority, under the Baath government of dictator Saddam Hussein, who was overthrown in 2003.
Additional World Book articles:
- Iraq history
- Iraq 2005 (a Back in Time article)
- Iraq 2006 (a Back in Time article)
- Iraq 2007 (a Back in Time article)
- Iraq 2008 (a Back in Time article)
- The War in Iraq: the Military Campaign and Aftermath (a special report)
- The War in Iraq: Shifting Alliances on the World Stage (a special report)
- Iraq: a Quest for Political Identity in a Second Year of War (a special report)
- The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
