5 Baghdad churches bombed in 24 hours

From Jomana Karadsheh
CNN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) - Five Baghdad churches were bombed in less than 24 hours and eight civilians were wounded, officials said Sunday.

Three bombs exploded outside churches Sunday afternoon, wounding the civilians, an Interior Ministry official said. The bombs detonated within a 15-minute span, between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m. local time (9:30 and 9:45 a.m. ET).

Two of the churches are in central Baghdad's al-Karrada district, and the third is in al-Ghadeer in eastern Baghdad.

Sunday evening, a bomb exploded outside a church in eastern Baghdad just after 7 p.m. (12 p.m. ET). No casualties were reported.

Saturday night, a church in western Baghdad sustained damage in a double bombing, the official said.

Most of the churches were damaged in the bombings, according to video footage.