Three years that a suicide bombing had not left the capital of Iraq in mourning.
The Islamic State Organization (OEI) claimed responsibility for the double bombing of Thursday, January 22 that killed 35 people in a busy Baghdad market, the deadliest attack in more than three years in the capital.
"The Islamic State Organization wants to show that it is still present and capable in the capital", explains Wassim Nasr, journalist at France 24.
However, the specialist in jihadist movements stresses that if this is the first kamikaze attack in Baghdad in three years, they have in reality never stopped in the suburbs and in the rest of the country.
"A double kamikaze attack cannot be improvised. This means that there were cells already present in the capital which were waiting for the moment to strike", explains the columnist, recalling that the timing is more a matter of opportunity than linked to international news.
For Wassim Nasr, the operating mode nonetheless demonstrates a drop in capacity compared to the power deployed in recent years.
The terrorist group is deployed more in rural areas:
Here's what all of the attacks in 2020 look like.
pic.twitter.com/xMwhuFFFNk
- Aaron Y. Zelin (@azelin) January 1, 2021
"On this map, we see that the OEI has a stronger presence in rural areas," he explains.
"This is part of their settlement strategy by taking advantage of the real grievances existing there after years of war, economic crisis, absence of political life and the proliferation of refugee camps that dot these areas. 'they are recruiting. "
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