ISIS continues to wage war on Iraq and may even have the country’s capital in its sights, as it looks to pounce on a weak army with no apparent will to fight.
Following a successful attack on Ramadi, in which Iraqi soldiers fled and gave up over 2,300 U.S. supplied Humvees, a series of bomb attacks in and around the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Wednesday left more than 18 people dead.
Eight people were killed in the city center on Palestine Street after a car bomb exploded, striking terror into the heart of Baghdad’s residents.
While Iraq has been wracked for years by deadly sectarian attacks, the overnight offensive was from ISIS, which claimed responsibility.
Other attacks were reported in the capital with many targeting military personnel, likely a tactic to encourage them not to fight and give up as they did in Ramadi.
ISIS also perpetrated another attack on Tuesday against a local government building in Amiriyat al-Fallujah, just west of Baghdad, in which two people were killed.
While Baghdad remains under government control, ISIS has advanced to the edges of the city, as the map below shows.
