伊拉克巴格达爆炸10人死亡
A bomb at a marketplace in downtown Baghdad has killed 10 people and injured 21 others. According to a police source, the huge blast destroyed several shops and many stalls, while some nearby vehicles were also damaged. But no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
It’s a tale of two Iraqs. Scenes left behind by a car bomb, Sunday, in the nation’s capital. It killed 10 people and injured more than 20. A sign of the incursion of Islamic militants who have captured city after city on the road to Baghdad.
And then there are these pictures...also released Sunday by the Iraqi defense ministry. The video shows government aerial strikes targeting the "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria" - or ISIS - and their positions north of Baghdad.
But the Islamic militants’ brutality has been on full display on social media. Yesterday, ISIS released horrifying images said to be mass killings of the Iraqi military. A number of the twitter accounts which released the images - have now been apparently blocked.
Meanwhile, Iraqi military posts like these are left abandoned. On Sunday, the Arab League called an emergency meeting to address the Iraq crisis.
"What is happening in Iraq now is not only a threat to Arab security but to regional security as a whole. The regional safety is threatened.” Ahmed Ben Helli, vice chairman of The Arab League, said.
The League has been discussing solutions but like, Iraq itself, is divided between Sunni and Shia Muslim interests.
That divide could deepen with the addition of thousands of Shia volunteers now joining the Iraqi military - after a call to arms by the nation’s leading Shia Muslim cleric.
Iraq’s Shia neighbor - Iran has offered its help, but some regional experts say the new volunteers may be enough.
"There are now more than 300,000 volunteers who are at the disposal of the government. So, I think that there is no need for Iran to send troops." Military affairs expert Brigadier Abdul-Karim Khalif said.
And this week, many eyes are on the White House. U-S President Barack Obama has said he’s considering ordering air strikes in Iraq, but Republican politicians are calling for them NOW.
"Time is running out, to turn this around. Get involved with air power, stop the march toward Baghdad." South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said.
