Baghdad, November 11: At least three people have been killed and 37 others injured in separate attacks in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, Iraqi security officials say.
A dozens of bombs and two mortar attacks were launched against Christian homes and shops late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday.
An Iraqi Interior Ministry source, however, put the toll at four dead and 33 wounded.
The fresh assaults came two weeks after a hostage crisis at a Catholic church in Baghdad left more than 50 people dead and many others wounded.
“These operations, which targeted Christians, came as a continuation of the attack that targeted the Salvation church,” the unnamed Interior Ministry source told Reuters.
The number of Christians living in Iraq has sharply decreased since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.
The Christian population in Baghdad has now dwindled to around 150,000, a third of what their population in the capital used to be before the US-led occupation began.
The United States invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext that the country was in possession of weapons of mass destruction, though such weapons were never found.
Despite the withdrawal of US combat forces, Iraq continues to host some 50,000 American troops that have remained in the country for “advising and training” purposes.
——–Agencies