Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Baghdad massacre

The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the attack a bomb attack in the Iraqi capital on the eve of the Muslim holiday of sacrifice, which claimed the lives of at least 35 people and injured dozens more.

Among the victims are at least 15 women and children.

In a post on its Telegram channel, the IK reported that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, who he called Abu Hamza al-Iraqi.

The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a crowded market in Baghdad’s Sunni Sadr City district on the eve of Eid al-Adha, security sources and hospital officials said. In addition to the 35 people who lost their lives, at least 60 others were injured and the death toll could become even heavier as the hours go by., as several of the persons admitted to the hospitals are in critical condition.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Qadimi chaired an emergency meeting with top security officials on the attack, his office said.

Iraqi President Barham Saleh condemned via Twitter the “heinous crime”, that “civilians were targeted in Sander City on the eve of the Feast of Sacrifice”, insisting that the government will not stop persecuting jihadists until “terrorism is eradicated” in Iraq.

In April, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a car bomb blast at a market in the central city of Sadr City that killed four people and wounded 20 others. The Sunni jihadist group also claimed responsibility for an attack on a market in Tayran Square in central Baghdad in January, when more than thirty people were killed. This was the deadliest kamikaze attack in three years.

Bombings in Iraqi territory were frighteningly frequent until 2017, when the Iraqi government announced its “victory” over the Islamic State jihadists, who had occupied large swathes of large parts of Syria and – mainly western and northern Iraq – in 2014. .