ISIS Claims Suicide Attack in Iraq’s Sadr City

Arab World

July 20th, 4:32am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Iraqis light candles at the site of the explosion in a popular market in Sadr City, east of Baghdad, on July 19, 2021. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least 35 people and wounded dozens in a crowded market in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad on Monday. The group's Nasheer news agency said on Telegram that one of its militants blew up his explosive vest among the crowds. The blast happened a day before the Eid al-Adha holiday when the market was busy with shoppers looking for gifts and groceries. Hospital sources said the death toll could rise as some of the wounded were in critical condition. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held an urgent meeting with top security commanders to discuss the attack, the premier's office said in a brief statement. President Barham Salih posted a tweet saying: "With an awful crime they target civilians in Sadr city on the eve of Eid ... We will not rest before terrorism is cut off by its roots." In April, ISIS claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on a market in Sadr City that killed four people and wounded 20. The extremist group also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack last January that killed more than 30 in the crowded Tayaran Square market in central Baghdad - Iraq's first big suicide bombing for three years.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3089386/isis-claims-suicide-attack-iraq%E2%80%99s-sadr-city