At least 23 people were killed and 68 others wounded when three bombs went off in mainly Shiite neighborhoods in central Baghdad Thursday, security and medical sources said. Two suicide blasts claimed by ISIS killed at least 19 people in the commercial district of Bab al-Shargi, a demonstration that the militant group can still launch attacks in the heart of the capital despite government efforts to thwart them. Both attacks were carried out by bombers on foot, wearing explosives-laden vests, two police officers said. A third explosion in the nearby Bab al-Muadham district killed four people, the sources said. A hospital source said the bombs had wounded a total of 68 people. Baghdad is trying to dislodge ISIS from large swaths of the north and west, but advances have been slow, particularly in the western province of Anbar, where Baghdad has been focusing its attention for months. As part of a reform campaign aimed at combating corruption and improving people's daily lives, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has directed security commanders to ease civilian access to the Green Zone, just across the Tigris River from the site of Thursday's attacks. He also ordered the elimination of no-go zones set up by militias and political parties in response to more than a decade of bombings, but removal of the gray concrete blast walls and barriers that line Baghdad's thoroughfares has been slow. ISIS frequently targets Iraq's majority Shiites, whom it considers heretics, fueling sectarian tensions, and often strikes areas such as markets and cafes where crowds gather. On Aug. 15, a car bomb in a Shiite-majority area of north Baghdad where people gather to buy and sell vehicles killed 11 people and wounded at least 68. That blast hit Sadr City, the same district where a massive truck bomb ripped through a wholesale vegetable market just two days before, killing at least 54 people.
