Car bomb in central Baghdad kills 23, claimed by IS – UPDATE
UPDATE: The death toll of the attack reached 23 people, according to Reuters. Also, about 80 people were wounded, after two car bombs have exploded in Baghdad, one targeting the late-night crowds typical of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan who shop and eat ahead of the next day’s fast.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed at least 20 people and wounded 78 in the early hours of Tuesday in a commercial street of central Baghdad, according to security sources.
Islamic State, the Sunni hardline group that controls parts of Iraq and Syria, claimed both attacks in statements on its Amaq news agency. A car packed with explosives blew up near a popular ice cream shop in the commercial Karrada district, killing at least 13 people and wounding 40 just after midnight (2100 GMT on Monday).
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A few hours later, a second bombing killed ten people and wounded 44 more near a government office in Karkh district.
During Ramadan many Muslims stay up until the early hours, going out to spend time with their families, shop and eat before dawn breaks and the next day’s fast begins.
Islamic State has been retreating in Iraq since the end of 2015 in the face of U.S.-backed government forces and Iranian-backed Shi’ite paramilitary groups.
UPDATE: Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the first blast that killed at least 13 people and wounded 40 just after midnight in the Iraqi capital’s commercial Karrada district.
A few hours later, a second bombing killed seven people and wounded 38 more near a government office in Karkh district. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The bombing targeted the Karrada district, which was hit by a massive truck bomb in July 2016 that killed at least 324 people, the deadliest attack in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003.
The 2016 blast was also claimed by Islamic State.
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Both bombings happened during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which people stay up late and many eat out to prepare for the fast the next day.
Islamic State’s Amaq news agency claimed Tuesday’s attack in Karrada, a mainly Shi’ite Muslim district.
The hardline Sunni group has been retreating in Iraq since the end of 2015 in the face of U.S.-backed government forces and Iranian-backed Shi’ite paramilitary groups.
It is now besieged in an enclave in the northern city of Mosul, which it has used as its de facto capital in Iraq. Islamic State declared a “caliphate” over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014.
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