On August 10 violence in Iraq escalated to familiar, yet somewhat distant levels. Car bombs concentrated primarily in Shiite neighborhoods around the Baghdad area exploded within an hour of one another, killing 66 people and wounding more than 200 others. The coordinated attacks meant to disrupt celebrations of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that comes at Ramadan’s end. More than stain the Islamic holy month with bloodshed, however, the attackers have continued and intensified a narrative of extremist violence in Iraq at the expense of innocent civilians.
The deadliest explosion took place when a suicide bomber drove a car into a neighborhood in Tuz Khormato, a town located about 130 miles north of Baghdad. The attack left eight people dead and dozens wounded. Another car bomb detonated near a market in Baghdad’s southeastern suburbs of Jisr Diyala, killing seven people and wounding 20 more. In southeastern Baghdad a car bomb killed three people in the neighborhood of New Baghdad, while three more were killed in Amil. In the city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, four people lost their lives.