BAGHDAD—Deadly attacks in Baghdad and a nearby town have shattered the relative calm far from the front lines of the war against the Islamic State (ISIS), raising concerns Tuesday that the extremists may focus once again on attacking civilians after a string of battlefield losses.
In recent months, Iraqi and Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes have forced ISIS out of Sinjar in the north and the provincial capital of Ramadi west of Baghdad.
But the extremist group has proved resilient after previous defeats, often seizing territory on other frontiers of its amoeba-like caliphate. In the days after ISIS fighters were driven out of Ramadi, the group launched a coordinated assault on the western town of Haditha which was repulsed by Iraqi forces.
On Monday, the Sunni extremist group went after softer targets in Baghdad and the town of Muqdadiyah to the northeast, with attacks that appeared to be aimed at killing Shiite civilians and aggravating sectarian tensions—a strategy pursued with horrifying results by the group’s predecessor, al-Qaida in Iraq.
