3 blasts target liquor stores in Iraq’s Baghdad

Three separate explosions have targeted liquor stores in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Russia Today news agency reported.

The agency said two separate explosions targeted liquor stores in the Camp Sarah area near the Karrada neighbourhood yesterday, no casualties were reported.

Later in the day, a third explosive device exploded in a liquor store in Besmaya Road, southeast of Baghdad.

Liquor stores in Iraq are frequently targeted with explosive devices.

In December, an unknown group calling itself the “Ahl Al-Ma’rouf” targeted liquor stores west of Baghdad, causing material damages to them.

At the time, the group called on the Iraqi security forces deployed in the vicinity of liquor stores and nightclubs to withdraw from the area ahead.

Although the Iraqi law does not prohibit the sale, import and consumption of alcohol, a proposed bill in 2016 called for alcohol to be banned. It was dropped less than a year later, but a 200 per cent tax on alcohol was introduced in the 2018 budget.

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