Shia News Wire_#25
July 17-23
Shia Rights Watch joins NGO Committee on Freedom of
Religion and Belief
This week Shia Rights Watch joined the United Nations NGO Committee on
Freedom of Religion and Belief in NEW YORK. This UN affiliated organization is a
sub-committee of the Conference on NGOs (CoNGO) and serves as a platform for
NGOs to draw attention to issues relating to the freedoms of religious and nonreligious groups. Holding its meetings next door to the United Nations, the
members of this committee have been able to influence international politics
through their remarkable lobbying and advocacy work.
In addition to joining the committee this week, a representative of Shia Rights
Watch attended the committee’s monthly meeting.
Shia Rights Watch is grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the committee
and is excited work with the other member organizations.
18 July 2015: One of the deadliest attacks on civilians in 10
years
On Friday July 17th 120 Shia Muslims were killed and approximately 130 wounded
as a car bomb exploded in the predominantly Shia town of Khan Bani Saad,
located in the Diyala province north of Baghdad. ISIS claimed responsibility
saying that a member drove a car filled with three tons of explosives into the
crowd consisting of men, women, and children celebrating the end of Ramadan.
Although ISIS no longer has a strong hold on the province of Diyala, it still has
influence in the area and a representative from the Iraqi government said that a
current priority of the government was stabilizing the region. Shia Rights Watch
continues to condemn the continued violence of ISIS and repeats calls for the
Iraqi security forces to adequately protect Shia communities around the country.
20 July 2015: Another attack on a Yemeni Mosque
ISIS has claim responsibility for yet another attack near a Shia mosque. At least
five were killed and seven more injured as car bomb exploded in the
neighborhood of al-Jeraf near a Shia mosque. This is the second Shia mosque
bombing by ISIS this month in Sana’a. This past year has witnessed an increase in
mosque bombings as ISIS has increased its presence in the gulf nation. Shia
Rights Watch condemns and calls for the immediate cessation of these attacks.
21 July 2015: Twenty-Two Killed in Three Separate Attacks
A series of attacks in Baghdad on July 21 st left 22 Shia dead. The first attack
occurred in the Zafarniyah district as a car bomb was detonated near a local gas
stations. Three civilians were killed and twelve more wounded. The second attack
resulted in five civilian deaths with sixteen wounded as a bomb went off in the alJadidah neighborhood of Baghdad. Finally, late Tuesday evening a third bomb
went off in a Shia neighborhood in New Baghdad. Located in front of a busy
clothing store the event resulted in fourteen deaths and thirty injuries. While
bombing occur roughly daily around the city, this series of bombings were
unexpected and were devastating to the Shia community in the city.
22 July 2015: Violence in Iraq continues as missiles
increase casualties in Syria
Tuesday began with Al Nusra militants launching hundreds of rockets into the
Shia villages of Fuaa and Kafraya located in the Idlib province of Syria. Current
estimates say that the attack has left seven villagers dead and hundreds more
wounded, with high levels of physical destruction as well. The villages attacked
are part of the area left under the protection of the Syrian army (supported by
Hezbollah). Al-Nusra says that the missile attack is a retaliation for Hezbollah’s
operations at the Lebanon border.
In Iraq two separate car bomb attacks in Baghdad left a combined twenty-six
dead and fifty-eight wounded. The first attack took place in the south west
Baghdad neighborhood al-Bayaa. As the bomb was detonated in a crowded
market eighteen were killed and thirty-six were wounded. The second attack took
place later in the day in the northeastern neighborhood of al-Shaab, again in a
market, leaving eight dead and twelve wounded.
July 23-24: Continued violence occurs in Iraq
rd
th
Between July 23 and July 24 three bombings killed 12 people and injured 12
others in Iraq. The first bombing was an IED which targeted the al-Madaen area
of Baghdad which is predominately Shia. In this attack one civilian was killed and
five others were injured. Later that day, a second IED was detonated in a Shia
neighborhood in Baghdad which killed seven and injured two. On Friday July 24th,
an IED was detonated in the Shia town of Taji which killed two civilians and
injured seven others. As the month comes to a close, militant groups such as ISIS
have ramped up attacks against Shia communities. Attacks in Iraq this month
have taken hundreds of Shia lives and Shia Rights Watch urges that actions are
taken to stop these senseless deaths.