A wave of bomb attacks has swept through Mosul over the last few days, stirring fears of a political armed conflict breaking out at a time the traditional culprit of such attacks, ISIS, did not claim responsibility.
Three days after the ISIS-staged ambush attack that targeted Popular Mobilization Forces units in southern Mosul, an assault which resulted in the death of six and the wounding of over 31 Iraqis, another explosion targeted a local eatery in the same area.
But without ISIS claiming responsibility for any of the attacks, political parties in Nineveh province, located on the outskirts of Mosul in modern-day northern Iraq, resorted to exchanging accusations, saying that certain armed parties were out to settle scores.
Nineveh province representative to parliament MP Ahmed al-Jubouri said: “The responsibility lies with the security leaders in Mosul who have to hold those responsible for the bombings accountable.”
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Local expert on the operations of paramilitary militia activity, Dr. Hisham al-Hashemi said the explosions denote the existence of undetected organized crime activity in Mosul.
“These operations are dangerous in that they occurred with bomb-laden cars. This suggests that there is a factory of explosives, an electrical workshop for networking, an element of surveillance and intelligence inside Mosul,” he said.
Hashemi added that the presence of “economically-driven political differences and conflict of interests” within Nineveh local government departments and politicians has compromised the area’s security standing.
He also considered the ongoing events in Iraq to usher in a “new shift in terrorist operations that work on exploiting the relative calm in densely populated urban neighborhoods.”
To Hashemi, perpetrators are likely seeking to create a gap between the public and security apparatuses and undermine the recently created state-citizen trust.
