"It Was Like An Earthquake" – Over 91 Killed After Two ISIS Suicide Bombings Rip Through Baghdad
By Tyler Durden
Just days after Iraqi forces scored a major victory against the Islamic State which was dislodged from its stronghold of Falluja, an hour’s drive west of Baghdad, ISIS struck back when at least 95 people were killed Sunday in two massive suicide bombings in the Iraqi capital, including a large-scale attack that killed 86 people, among them 15 children, in a central shopping district.
Isil has claimed a suicide car bombing that killed at least 79 people in central Baghdad https://t.co/WmpeepsNsthttps://t.co/2indK7JwKl
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 3, 2016
At least 83 people killed after double bomb blasts hit #Baghdad https://t.co/AG4X3V4GvVhttps://t.co/9hnxv7dVsx
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) July 3, 2016
As AP reports, the bombings demonstrated the extremists’ ability to mount significant attacks despite major battlefield losses, including the city of Fallujah, which was declared “fully liberated” from IS just over a week ago. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered the offensive after a series
of deadly bombings in Baghdad, saying Falluja served as a launchpad for
such attacks on the capital. However, bombings have continued.
The deadliest attack took place in the central Karada district of Baghdad, where a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laded refrigerator pickup truck outside a crowded shopping center, killing at least 95 people and wounding up to 170 others, according to a police officer. He said the dead included 15 children, 10 women and six policemen.
The suicide bomber struck shortly after midnight, when families and young people were out on the streets in the central district of Karrada, after breaking their daylight fast for the holy month of Ramadan. Most of the victims were inside a multi-story shopping and amusement mall, where dozens burned to death or suffocated, officials said.
“It was like an earthquake,” said Karim Sami, a 35-year-old street vendor. “I wrapped up my goods and was heading home when I saw a fire ball with a thunderous bombing. I was so scared to go back and started to make phone calls to my friends, but none answered,” the father of three added. He said that one of his friends had been killed, another was wounded and one was still missing.
As expected, within hours, IS claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted online, saying they had deliberately targeted Shiite Muslims.
At the scene, firefighters and civilians were seen carrying the dead away, their bodies wrapped in blankets and sheets. Smoke billowed from the shopping center, which was surrounded by the twisted and burned wreckage of cars and market stalls. A group of women were sitting on the pavement, crying for their loved ones.
In the second attack, an improvised explosive device went off in Baghdad’s northern Shaab area, killing 5 people and wounding 16, another police officer said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of IS militants who often target commercial districts and Shiite areas. Medical …read more
Source: "It Was Like An Earthquake" – Over 91 Killed After Two ISIS Suicide Bombings Rip Through Baghdad
