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Bab Al-Sharqi باب الشرقي | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood | |
 A view of Bab Al-Sharqi | |
  Bab Al-Sharqi Location in Baghdad, Iraq | |
| Coordinates:33°19′48″N44°24′46″E / 33.33012°N 44.41289°E /33.33012; 44.41289 | |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Governorate | Baghdad Governorate |
| City | Baghdad |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (Arabian Standard Time) |
Bab Al-Sharqi is aneighborhood of centralBaghdad,Iraq. It is bordered withShorja andBataween. The area surrounding Bab Al-Sharqi market is a stronghold of theMahdi Army, the main Shia militia in central Iraq.[citation needed].
This Shi'a neighborhood saw some of the most intensesectarian fighting duringOperation Iraqi Freedom. It continued to be plagued by routine attacks as late as 2016.[1]
Bab al-Sharqi is located on the east bank of the Tigris River, near theJumhuriya Bridge. It is directly across the river from the Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Information and theGreen Zone.
On22 January 2007 two powerfulcar bombs ripped through the Bab Al-Sharqi market inBaghdad, killing at least 88 people and wounding 160 others in one of the bloodiestinsurgent attacks ofOperation Iraqi Freedom.[2] The attack coincided with the arrival of 3,200 additional troops into Baghdad as part of thetroop surge of 2007.[2]
Only three months after the devastating attack, SenatorLindsey Graham complained that the media was not giving the American people "the full picture of what's going on here." Though he mostly stayed within the heavily secured Green Zone, and traveled outside the Green Zone only with a heavily armed military escort, he unabashedly told reporters of the "signs of success" he witnessed on his visit to Bab al-Sharqi:[3]
We went to the market and were just really warmly welcomed. I bought five rugs for five bucks. And people were engaging, and just a few weeks ago, hundreds of people, dozens of people were killed in this same place.
— Lindsey Graham
On30 January 2015, two bombs exploded in theBab al-Sharqi district ofBaghdad, killing at least 19 people and wounding 28 others. The attack was part of ongoing violence in the city, withinsurgent groups frequently targeting areas such as this.[1]
On 21 January 2021, twinsuicide bombings struck a crowded market in Baghdad'sBab Al-Sharqi district. The attack resulted in the deaths of at least 32 people and left over 100 others wounded. It was one of the deadliest incidents inBaghdad in recent years, occurring amid a period of relative calm. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but officials suspected it was the work ofextremist militants.
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