Iraq - IOM distributed relief items to 50 families living in the Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Shu’ala, whose homes were destroyed or damaged by last week’s bomb attacks. Four car bombs detonated across Baghdad on 24 January killed 14 individuals and left 75 wounded. The residential area of Al-Shu’ala, in the district of Al-Kadhumiya, was particularly impacted; one of the explosions killed five students, injured 14 others and damaged two schools.
An IOM emergency and monitoring assessment team visited the area the following day and found that three homes had been completely destroyed and 47 homes were damaged, leaving many families homeless and in urgent need of basic humanitarian assistance.
IOM immediately dispatched non-food item kits form its warehouse in Erbil to distribute amongst the families in Al-Shu'ala.
IOM provided mattresses, blankets, pillows, carpets, cabinets, gas cookers, kerosene heaters, and plastic sheeting to every family affected by the attack.
At the request of the local authorities and the Department of Education, IOM also replaced 80 square metres of broken glass in the damaged schools of Al-Yaman Primary and Al-Futowa Secondary.
IOM recently replaced 75 square meters of glass in Al Nahrain Secondary School, which was damaged by a bomb attack on 22 December, 2011.
IOM's Emergency Response Team is also currently in the field, distributing 75 non-food item kits to families affected by a car bombing in the Zaafaraniya District of Baghdad.
Funding for the relief supplies is provided by United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).
For more information, please contact:
IOM Iraq Tel: +962 6 56 59 660 E-mail: iomiraq@iom.int