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At least 45 killed in Baghdad market car bomb attack | |
(35 minutes later) | |
A car bomb has ripped through a commercial area in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens in an attack swiftly claimed by Islamic State. | |
Shortly after the explosion, one of the deadliest recently in the Iraqi capital, the Sunni extremist group said it was responsible. Isis said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, but Iraqi officials denied that. | |
The bombing showed that Isis is still capable of launching significant attacks across the country despite a number of territorial defeats in the past year. It has recently stepped up assaults inside Baghdad, something officials say is an attempt to distract from the recent battlefield defeats. | |
Related: Mosul: suspicion and hostility cloud fight to recapture Iraqi city from Isis | Related: Mosul: suspicion and hostility cloud fight to recapture Iraqi city from Isis |
Wednesday’s bomb struck a crowded outdoor market in Baghdad’s eastern district of Sadr City, two police officials said, adding that the blast also wounded up to 65 people, several seriously, prompting fears the death toll could rise further. | |
Ambulances rushed to the scene, where dozens of residents walked through the twisted and mangled wreckage of cars and other debris that littered the pavement, trying to help the victims. The street was stained red with blood in many places and front-side facades of several buildings were heavily damaged. Smoke billowed from ground-level stores gutted out by the explosion. | |
Karim Salih, a 45-year old grocer, said the bomb was in a pickup truck loaded with fruits and vegetables that was parked by a man who quickly disappeared among the crowds of people. | |
“It was such a thunderous explosion that jolted the ground,” Salih said. | |
“The force of the explosion threw me metres away and I lost conscious for a few minutes,” the merchant added. He suffered no injuries, but two of his workers were wounded. | |
Four medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. | |
In its online statement, Isis said it had carried out a suicide attack that targeted a gathering of Shia militiamen. | |
Isis controls significant territory in northern and western Iraq, including Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul. Commercial and public places in Shia-dominated areas are among the most frequent targets for its militants seeking to undermine Iraqi government efforts to maintain security inside the capital. | |
In February, the group carried out devastating back-to-back market bombings in Sadr City, the stronghold of followers of an influential Shia cleric. That attack killed at least 73 people. |