One killed, eight injured in Baghdad blast

A civilian was killed and eight others were injured in a bomb blast in southeastern Baghdad on Wednesday.

Baghdad Today quoted a police source as saying that "an IED exploded on Wednesday evening near the industrial district in Besmaya village, located on Baghdad-Wassit road, which left a person killed and eight others wounded".

Talking to Baghdad Today on condition of anonymity, the source said, "security troops transferred the injured to nearby hospital, while the victim was taken to forensic medicine department."

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an "Islamic Caliphate" in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

In 2014, the Iraqi insurgency escalated into a civil war with the conquest of Fallujah, Mosul, Tikrit and major areas in northern Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). This has resulted in the forced resignation of the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, airstrikes by the United States, Iran, Syria, and at least a dozen other countries, the participation of Iranian troops and military aid provided to Iraq by Russia.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 297 Iraqis, were killed and injured due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of ?August. Baghdad was the most affected province with 45 deaths and 135 injuries.

Baghdad has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016. While most of of the explosions and attacks went without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has claimed several incidents.

Despite the group's defeat in its main havens across Iraqi provinces, observers believe the group may still constitute a security threat.