The streets of the Iraqi capital have been gradually losing their pedestrians for the past two weeks because of a series of explosions that hit different parts of the capital, leaving hundreds dead and wounded, amid news about the return of fake checkpoints. Iraqi streets are expected to be almost completely devoid of any movement during the first days of the current month, as Iraqi Shiites start the festival of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, the seventh Twelver Shiite Muslim, on June 5, 2013.
The latest wave of bombings that hit Baghdad on Thursday, May 30, 2013, left dozens dead as car bombs and improvised explosive devices detonated in the areas of Waziriya, Karrada, Sadiyah, al-Zoyoot and al-Bonook, following a bloody night during which a car bomb targeted a wedding party in the Shiite-majority neighborhood of Al-Hussein, part of the predominantly Sunni al-Jihad area, west of Baghdad. The attack killed and wounded more than 80 people.
