The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the five car bombs in Baghdad that killed at least 27 people in mostly Shi’ite neighborhoods on Saturday. Three of the bombs occurred within ten minutes of each other and the attackers targeted Abu Dashir, Baiyaa, Jihad, and Kadhimiya. From The Guardian:
Saturday’s deadliest bombing took place in the Shia neighborhood of Abu Dashir, where a suicide attacker drove a car packed with explosives into a checkpoint, killing at least nine people and wounding 19. Four policemen were among the dead, a police officer said.
Later in the day, three car bombs in different neighborhoods of Baghdad went off in less than 10 minutes, hitting the districts of Bayaa, Jihad and Khazimiya. The attacks killed at least 15 people and wounded another 42, police officials said.
A further car bomb near a bus stop in Khazimiya killed three people and wounded 15, according to police.
Also on Saturday, the Islamic State told Christians in Mosul to convert to Islam, pay a protection tax, or die. The deadline was Saturday at noon and the majority of the Christians opted to leave. A few people told Reuters their families were robbed at checkpoints when the guards found out they were Christian. In the afternoon, Islamic State members went around Mosul and marked Christian homes and buildings with an “N” for Nazarene.