Islamic State strikes twice in a day in Baghdad, leaves 31 dead

BAGHDAD: A massive bombing by the Islamic State group outside a popular ice cream shop in central Baghdad and a rush hour car bomb in another downtown area killed at least 31 people on Tuesday, Iraqi officials said.

The attacks come as IS militants are steadily losing more territory to US-backed Iraqi forces in the battle for Mosul, the country’s second-largest city. The extremists are increasingly turning to insurgency-style terror attacks to detract from their losses.

The nighttime attack outside the ice cream parlour in the bustling Karrada neighborhood killed 17 people and also wounded 32, police and health officials said.

A closed-circuit camera captured the moment of the explosion, the video showing a busy downtown avenue, with cars driving down the street when the blast occurred.

In the second attack, an explosives-laden car went off during rush hour near the state-run Public Pension Office in Baghdad’s busy Shawaka area, killing 14, a police officer said. At least 37 people were wounded in that attack, he added.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

In separate online statements, IS claimed responsibility for the two attacks, saying its suicide bombers targeted gatherings of Shias. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statements but they were posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists.

During Ramzan last year, another section of Karrada was hit by massive suicide bombing that killed almost 300 people, the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in 13 years of war. AP