The blast – which officials had previously said killed at least 250 people – was one of the deadliest single attacks in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, which set the stage for more than 13 years of brutal violence in the country.
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Many of those killed have had to be identified with DNA-testing because their bodies were burned beyond recognition.
The Pentagon had cautioned previously that the Islamic State group was likely to conduct these kinds of high-profile attacks as the terrorist group continues to lose territory in Iraq and Syria.
“I placed my resignation before the Prime Minister”, Mr. Ghabban said at a news conference. He said he had submitted proposed reforms in 2015 but they were shelved by the government. The army; federal and local police; and government-sanctioned Shiite militias share security responsibility, manning checkpoints throughout the city.
Iraqi Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban has offered his resignation following the bombing, citing failures in “having the different array of security forces work under a unified plan in Baghdad”.
Iraqi authorities say more dead bodies have been recovered from the site of the massive weekend suicide bombing in central Baghdad, bringing the death toll to 175.
He said then that security forces outside his control – including units reporting to two counter-terrorism agencies, two Defense Ministry directorates and regional security commands – overlap with his ministry’s own counter-intelligence efforts.
The bombing was in the Karrada district, a mostly Shia area, where families were shopping for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday at the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
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Police and health officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information, warned that there are still people missing and that the death toll could rise further.
