Suicide bombers target market in Baghdad
At least 32 people were killed and 110 injured when suspected Islamic State suicide bombers targeted a busy market in central Baghdad, in the deadliest such attack in the city for three years.
The Iraqi interior ministry said the explosions near Tayaran Square, the scene of a previous IS suicide attack, had been designed to cause maximum casualties, and the bombers had appealed to passers-by for assistance before detonating their vests.
‘‘The first suicide bomber said he was sick, asked for help, gathered people around him and detonated the bomb,’’ the ministry said in a statement on yesterday morning’s attack. ‘‘The second suicide bomb detonated as soon as others gathered to help the victims of the first bomb.’’
Police sources said many of the victims had died instantly while others were missing or seriously injured in hospital.
They included shoppers, stallholders and day labourers who had come to the square to look for work. Iraqi security sources described the incident as the latest terrorist attack carried out by IS, although there was no confirmation from the group.
Yehia Rahool, a spokesman for the Iraqi defence ministry, said that security forces had received information about an imminent attack from an IS commander who was arrested last week in Baghdad.
He added that they had been pursuing the two suspects, but were unable to prevent the bombings. Video footage shared on social media showed an explosion engulfing a small crowd in a busy street, and several casualties lying among the remains of stalls selling secondhand clothes and shoes.
A street vendor in the market, who was standing nearby, said: ‘‘One [bomber] came, fell to the ground and started complaining ‘my stomach is hurting’ and he pressed the detonator in his hand. It exploded immediately. People were torn to pieces.’’
After years of deadly sectarian violence, suicide bombings have become relatively rare in the Iraqi capital. IS claimed responsibility for the last such attack – also in Tayaran Square – in January 2018, which killed at least 35 people. Only a month earlier, the Iraqi government declared victory in its war against the terror group.
Up to 10,000 IS jihadists are estimated to remain at large in Iraq and Syria and have stepped up a guerrilla-style campaign
against security forces and civilians in recent months, despite the efforts of the Iraqi Army and a US-led military coalition.
Jihadists have boasted of exploiting the disruption and economic shock caused by the
coronavirus pandemic.
Barham Salih, the Iraqi president, suggested the timing of yesterday’s attacks could be linked to early parliamentary elections, which are due to take place in October. ‘‘We stand firmly against these rogue attempts to
destabilise our country,’’ he added.
By yesterday afternoon, a security cordon had been lifted in the Bab al-Sharqi neighbourhood where the bombings took place and traders and shoppers had returned to the market.
Sadiq Jaafar, an 18-year-old coffee-seller, recalled running for cover seconds after the first explosion.
‘‘At the beginning it was a minor explosion, then the second one was stronger,’’ he said.