A police agent was killed due to a bomb blast in western Baghdad, a police source said on Tuesday.

“A bomb stuck beneath a car driven by the police agent exploded while he was passing through al-Nasr and al-Salam regions, west of Baghdad.,” the source told AlSumaria News, adding that the police member was immediately killed.

“Security forces cordoned off the accident spot,” the source added.

Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State militants who took over large areas of the country in 2014 leaving 1115 casualties, excluding security members, during March, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said. Baghdad was the second most affected province with 84 deaths and 246 injuries, according to the organization’s monthly casualty count.

Daily bombings that target civilians and security personnel are witnessed in Baghdad.

IS militants have claimed responsible for several bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months.

It is believed that IS have begun escalating attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses.

Moreover, observers argue that attacks outside the city prove that the extremist group can still pose a security threat for all cities.

Source: iraqinews.com