Iraq attacks deepen security woes as global, local rivals clash

FILE PHOTO: A firefighter inspects the site of a car bomb attack in Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Wissam al-Okili/File Photo

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of attacks in Iraq this week illustrates the increasingly dangerous tangle of local and regional rivalries confronting the country's security in an election year, Iraqi security and government officials say.

The violence appears linked to militias seeking to help ally Iran oppose Western and Gulf Arab adversaries in a tussle for influence playing out across the Middle East, as well as to growing domestic strains head of elections in October, they say.