The deadliest attack took place in the central Karada district of Baghdad on Sunday, where a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laded pickup truck outside a crowded shopping centre.
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Thousands of Iraqis have gathered at the site of a terrorist bombing which killed at least 250 people in Baghdad on Sunday.
Iraqi firefighters and civilians evacuate bodies of victims killed from a bomb at a commercial area on Sunday in Karada neighborhood, Baghdad, Iraq.
It was the worst single auto bomb attack in Iraq since USA forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago and deepened the anger of many Iraqis over the weak performance of the security apparatus. Officials said a dozen people were missing and at least 60 of the dead were women and children.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information to the media.
The bombing showed Isis’s capability for launching attacks beyond the frontlines, despite battlefield losses elsewhere in the country.
In 2010, British authorities arrested the director of the British company ATSC Ltd. on fraud charges, prompting Iraqis to open their own investigation into alleged corruption. Despite warnings that the devices were useless, the Iraqi security forces continued to use them.
The wand-like devices, widely used at road checkpoints, embassies, government ministries, and compounds, were sold by British alleged con man James McCormick.
Al-Abadi also ordered x-ray systems be installed at the entrances of Iraqi provinces, an upgraded security belt around Baghdad, increased aerial scanning and boosted intelligence efforts.
Despite the military failures in front of the government troops, Islamic State manages to commit murderous attacks in the very center of the Iraqi capital, comments France Presse.
Iraqi officials say they executed five ISIS members in the wake of the attack.
As we reported Sunday, “The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement, though NPR was not able to independently verify the claim”. The militants are estimated to now control only 14%, according to the prime minister’s office. Attention is now focused on the key IS city of Mosul in the north of Iraq.
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ISIS had called for its supporters to strike during the Muslim holy month, resulting in a string of deadly attacks linked to the terror group around the world, from the United States to Turkey, Bangladesh and France.
