© Reuters/Saad ShalashThe city of Baghdad.
No one claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack so far, however, Al Qaeda's Iraq branch has shown an increase in suicide-attack activity since the start of 2013 in what is seen as an attempt to ratchet up widespread tensions between the country's Shia and Sunni Muslims.
It has only been four days since a series of bombings had taken 55 lives and injured 300 across the country. All of this takes place as Iraqis prepare to head for the polls on April 20 to hold provincial elections - their first since the withdrawal of US troops, following a decade-long occupation of the country.
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Comment: The mainstream media has been parroting for years the idea that the so-called branch of "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is seeking to divide the country. This is a nonsensical explanation, as the existence of such a branch is a mere assumption, and no one has more to benefit from a weakened and divided Iraq than the US, Israel and their allies. If there is such a branch of Al Qaeda, it is putting a lot of effort into doing the job of the global bullies.