Militant fighters of the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) reportedly bombed the Olympic Stadium in al-Bujileeb area in the countryside of Ramadi, Iraq, according to Sarbaz Yousef of ARA NEWS. The stadium was "recently turned into a base for Iraqi government’s army forces, from which they used to launch attacks on IS strongholds in the province." Abu Yasser, a tribal leader in the city of Fallujah, said that IS militants, before their withdrawal from al-Bujileeb northwest of Ramadi, "had filled the Olympic Stadium with explosives." Yasser added, "Days after the Iraqi army forces regained control of it, the group blew up the stadium, causing dozens of casualties among the Shiite Popular Mobilization forces who were taking the area as a military base" (ARA NEWS, 7/20). The AP reported the stadium "had never been used for sports." Security and military officials said that the 30,000-capacity stadium "was empty when it was destroyed Sunday" (AP, 7/20). MARCA reported the stadium "had been conceived as one of the great symbols of the future of Iraq after the war ended," and before ISIS emerged (MARCA, 7/19).
