Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

World

Baghdad officials say Islamic State uses displaced Sunnis in Baghdad as cover to plant bombs

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 27b03fb1-
    Image 1 of 3

    Men sit in the shade of a tent at a camp set up for people from Ramadi and around the area in al-Shurta neighborhood of west Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 30, 2015. There are 2.7 million people internally displaced in Iraq, where government forces are struggling to wrest back vast areas of the north and west seized by the Islamic State group last year. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (The Associated Press)

  • 603e8d17-
    Image 2 of 3

    Civilians inspect the aftermath of a car bomb explosion in the Shiite district of Talibiyah in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 1, 2015. It was one of a string of car bomb attacks across the Iraqi capital that targeted mostly Shiite districts.(AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (The Associated Press)

  • c2e25c54-
    Image 3 of 3

    A woman walks past the site of a car bomb attack in the Shiite district of Talibiyah in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 1, 2015. A string of car bomb attacks across the Iraqi capital targeted mostly Shiite districts.(AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (The Associated Press)

BAGHDAD – Officials in Baghdad are blaming displaced Sunnis fleeing fighting for providing cover for militants to conduct a wave of bombings.

Baghdad has witnessed a spike in bombings in the past week with multiple blasts each day. On Thursday night six bombs claimed 21 lives.

Fighting in the western city of Ramadi sent at least 110,000 refugees fleeing towards Baghdad two weeks ago.

"There is a link between the recent attacks in Baghdad and the entry of displaced families," Baghdad Provincial Council member Ghalib al-Zamili told The Associated Press Friday.

He maintained that Islamic State militants used the refugees to infiltrate the capital.

There are reports that the displaced are being harassed in the mosques and makeshift camps where they have taken up residence.

Sunni lawmakers decry the accusations as scapegoating.