On Friday, June 9th 2017, a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives at a market in the village of Musayab, just east of the holy Shia city of Karbala, Iraq. The blast killed at least 30 and wounded another 35.
Like Karbala, Musayab is predominantly inhabited by Shia Muslims, whom ISIS consider heretics.
The attack follows a string of heightened terrorist activity around the globe since the start of Ramadan. ISIS has called for increased attacks on “non-believers” during this period – telling followers that the rewards for jihadi in heaven are multiplied.
Friday’s attack was the fifth major attack claimed by the group since the holy month began on May 27th.
Last year, Iraq saw at least 6,359 civilian death and injuries from explosive violence reported in English-language media. Of these, 76% were caused by IEDs.
The numbers of civilians killed or injured by IEDs in Iraq increased by 19% despite the number of IED incidents decreasing (from 228 in 2015 to 207 in 2016).
The number of civilians killed and injured by suicide attacks increased by 121% in 2016, compared to the previous year.
Across the globe, AOAV recorded 12,673 deaths and injuries from 256 suicide bombings in 2016. Of these, 9,680 of those killed and injured were civilians (76%), representing a slight rise of 5% from 2015, or a 90% rise since 2011.
AOAV calls on states to urgently address the threat of suicide bombings and other forms of IED attacks. Reports by AOAV show the increasing threat of suicide bombings around the world. There is an urgent need for preventative measures to be implemented by States and the international community.
For more on counter-IED initiatives, please see here. To read AOAV’s recent report, Understanding the rising cult of the suicide bomber, please see here.
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