begin quote from:
At least 143 dead in Iraq bombing, ISIS claims responsibility
| New York Daily News | - |
A
minivan loaded with explosives carried death and destruction to a busy
commercial street in downtown Baghdad in a terror attack that left at
least 143 people dead early Sunday.
At least 143 dead and nearly 200 wounded in Iraq bombing; ISIS claims responsibility
At Least 78 Dead After Baghdad Car Bomb Blast
AP
An additional 195 were wounded and 11 people were missing and feared dead in the dreadful explosion near a bustling commercial area shortly after midnight, authorities said.
The dead included at least 15 children, 10 women and six policemen.
Many were inside a multistory shopping and amusement mall, where dozens burned to death or suffocated, police said.
Baghdad-area bombings kill 15, wound 40 in Iraq
Karada, where the terrorists struck, is a major commercial area filled with clothing and jewelry shops, restaurants and cafes. The location was packed with shoppers ahead of Wednesday’s Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
The Islamic State promptly claimed responsibility in a statement posted online, saying the largely Sunni extremist organization had targeted Shiites.
It was the most lethal terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency.
Iraqi firefighters and civilians carry bodies of victims killed in a car bomb at a commercial area of Baghdad.
(Khalid Mohammed/AP)ISIS bombings around Baghdad kill at least 24
“I was so scared to go back and started to make phone calls to my friends, but none answered,” the father of three added.
Residents blamed Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi for the latest violence. As he tried to visit the site, an angry mob surrounded his convoy. They yelled expletives and threw rocks and shoes and called him a “thief.”
Many Iraqis fault his administration and other political leaders for gaps in security in Baghdad that have allowed massive amounts of explosives to make their way past security checkpoints and into neighborhoods and dense areas.
It was not the only violence Sunday.
Four dead, 90 hurt as Baghdad rioters storm Green Zone
A second bomb went off on another busy commercial street in a Shiite-dominated neighborhood east of Baghdad. The blast killed five people and wounded 16, authorities said.
Fire rescue workers at the site of deadly suicide car bomb attack in the Karada district of central Baghdad.
(ALI ABBAS/EPA)The latest bloodshed comes as Iraqi forces, supported by U.S.-led coalition air strikes, have secured a series of wins against ISIS over the past year and a half.
Those forces have retaken the cities of Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah, which was declared fully liberated from the extremist organization just over a week ago.
On Sunday, the military victories continued.
The Joint Military Operation Command announced that government forces regained seven villages south of the ISIS-held city of Mosul, part of a small-scale operation started in March aimed at clearing areas outside the city to cut the supply lines and enable more troops to be deployed ahead of a major operation.
Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, fell to ISIS when the extremists swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014. It is the largest city in the group’s self-styled caliphate.
People gather at the site of a suicide car bomb in the Karrada shopping area.
(KHALID AL-MOUSILY/REUTERS)But ISIS has shown it still has the ability to carry out large-scale operations in areas away from the frontline fighting.
Iraqi officials have long tied the battle to retake Fallujah to boosting security in and around Baghdad, citing the large numbers of bomb factories uncovered in Fallujah, less than an hour drive west of the capital. But security inside Baghdad remains poor.
Law enforcement officers who screen for explosives at the ubiquitous checkpoints in and around the city often use electronic wands that have been rendered nearly useless.
“We are in a state of war, and these places are targeted. The security can’t focus on the war (against ISIS) and forget Baghdad,” Sami, the street vendor, told The AP.
The White House condemned the bombings.
“These attacks only strengthen our resolve to support Iraqi security forces as they continue to take back territory from (ISIS), just as we continue to intensify our efforts to root out (ISIS’) terrorist network and leaders,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.
With News Wire Services
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