Iraq: bombings follow aid official’s warning

AP reports:

The director of the European Union’s humanitarian aid department warned on Thursday that the situation in Iraq was deteriorating rapidly while the world was preoccupied with crises elsewhere. Shortly after the official, Jean-Louis de Brouwer, sounded his warning, a wave of car bombs in Baghdad and Madaen, a town to the south, killed a total of 21 people and wounded at least 65. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Baghdad and the surrounding area have had near-daily bombings as the authorities struggle to win back territory captured by the Islamic State. Earlier, Mr. de Brouwer said that the number of displaced people in Iraq had quadrupled in the past year and showed no signs of decreasing. “The worst is still to come,” he said. “The situation is deteriorating; humanitarian aid is becoming even more essential than it was. The problem is funding.” He said he was worried about “donor exhaustion.”