UN condemns attack on university in Baghdad

The United Nations has condemned a terrorist attack against a university in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Nickolay Mladenov, denounced the attack against Imam Kadhim University, terming it as “vicious and cowardly”.

The UN official further described the attack as another example of the ongoing violence in the country, saying, “The people of this country need to fight in order to bring this country to tranquility, and it is happening at a time when the Iraqi people are preparing to go to the polls in a few days.”

The attack took place against the university on Sunday, leaving several people dead and wounded.

“The target has been selected to incite … hatred, with utter disregard for human life and religious values,” he added.

Also on the same day a wave of violence hit different places in the country.

Sunday’s deadliest attack was carried out outside the southern city of Samawah where two car bombs blasted concurrently in a commercial area. According to police, seven people were killed in the attack.

Meanwhile, a bomb and militant attack on the gates of a private college in Baghdad’s eastern neighborhood of Ur killed four policemen and one teacher. Nearly 20 others were injured in the assault.

The terrorist attacks come less than two weeks ahead of Iraq’s parliamentary election which is scheduled to be held on April 30.

Reports say that Takfiri groups such as the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are coming to Iraq from neighboring Syria and Saudi Arabia to undermine security in the country.

The government in Iraq has blamed Riyadh for the chaos, saying Saudi Arabia is funding and arming militants fighting against Iraqi forces in the country’s western areas, including Anbar province.

According to figures released by the United Nations, at least 8,000 people lost their lives in the country last year — the highest death toll since a peak of violence in Iraq in 2007.