Baghdad suicide bombing kills 115; ISIL claims responsibility

At least 115 people were killed Sunday in a suicide bombing in central Baghdad claimed by the Islamic State, the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital this year, officials said.

Among those killed were at least 15 children, 10 women and six policemen when a bomber's pickup truck laden with explosives went off outside a crowded shopping center, wounding 187 other people, police and Iraqi officials said, according to the Associated Press.

The attack shows the militant group is still active after its recent battlefield loss of the city of Fallujah, which Iraq declared was "fully liberated" a week ago. In addition, U.S.-led airstrikes last week on the Islamic State killed at least 250 suspected militants and destroyed at least 40 vehicles in Fallujah.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and lawmakers visited the bombing site in the Karada district hours later. Video footage on social media showed an angry crowd, with people calling al-Abadi a “thief” and shouting at his convoy, the AP reported. Eyewitnesses said the crowd pelted the al-Abadi’s car with rocks, shoes and jerry cans.

Before the government launched the Fallujah operation in late May, the prime minister had faced some protests over security concerns. In one month, Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and diplomatic missions, was stormed twice by anti-government protesters.

A second bombing Sunday in Baghdad’s northern Shaab area killed five people and wounded 16, police said. No group claimed responsibility for that attack, which involved an improvised explosive device.
Sunday's major bombing occurred shortly after midnight, when people were on the streets 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, the AP reported.

“It was like an earthquake,” said Karim Sami, 35, a 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, the AP reported. He said one friend was killed, another wounded and one was still missing.

The attack was the deadliest in the capital this year, according to the AP. On May 11, Islamic State militants carried out three car bombings in Baghdad, killing 93 people.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, has lost about 45% of the territory it controlled at its peak last year in Iraq and about 20 percent of what it once occupied in Syria, the Pentagon has said.