This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-40089402
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Iraq conflict: Baghdad ice cream parlour hit by suicide attack | Iraq conflict: Baghdad ice cream parlour hit by suicide attack |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Two car bomb explosions in the heart of the Iraqi capital Baghdad have killed at least 26 people and wounded 95 others, sources say. | |
The first ripped through an ice cream shop just after midnight (21:00 GMT on Monday) in the Karrada district, where a crowd had broken their Ramadan fasts. | |
The Sunni jihadist group Islamic State said it had targeted a group of Shia. | |
There was no immediate claim for the second blast, which happened a few hours later in Karkh. | |
The scene of the attack, near the headquarters of the government's pensions directorate in Shuhada Square, is also believed to have been busy. | |
An interior ministry source said 11 people were killed and 35 wounded. | |
During Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset, many Baghdad residents stay up past midnight and eat out at restaurants and cafes. | |
Dozens of people were reportedly sitting on benches outside the popular al-Faqma ice cream parlour in Karrada, a predominantly Shia commercial area, when a car parked on the street nearby exploded. | |
A video posted on social media after the blast showed a young girl wandering around the scene dazed as a man screamed for help, while photos showed ice cream cups scattered on the bloodstained pavement. | |
Health ministry sources told the BBC that 15 people were killed and 60 wounded. | |
IS said an Iraqi suicide bomber had detonated an explosives-filled vehicle targeting a "gathering" of Shia, whom it considers irredeemable apostates. | |
The US envoy to the multinational coalition against IS, Brett McGurk, condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Iraq. | |
"[IS] terrorists tonight in Baghdad target children & families enjoying time together at an ice cream shop. We stand w/Iraq against this evil," he wrote on Twitter. | |
Ramadan, which began on Saturday, is often marked by increased violence in Iraq. | |
Last July, at least 324 people were killed in a truck bomb attack on a shopping centre in Karrada, where families were buying new clothes for Eid al-Fitr. | |
IS said it was behind the bombing, the deadliest single incident in Baghdad since the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. | |
Tuesday's attacks come as Iraqi security forces continue an offensive to recapture the northern city of Mosul, the last major IS urban stronghold in the country. |