The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack – one of the deadliest ever in Iraq – and said an Iraqi suicide bomber carried it out.
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The death toll from a massive suicide bombing in Baghdad over the weekend has reached 281, Iraq’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The bombing, claimed by the Islamic State group, was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency.
Thousands of Iraqis gathered on Wednesday at the site of a Baghdad bombing that killed at least 250 people, to mourn the dead and express solidarity with those stricken by the blast.
Bombings in the capital have decreased since IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, with the militants apparently more concerned with operations elsewhere.
Local resident Mohammed Musa said: “now we demand a solution from the government, because since 2003 to 2016 we have been uncomfortable, we are in a hard situation”.
On the same day of the terrorist attack, a second bombing was carried out at an outdoor market in the Shaab neighborhood of southeastern Baghdad. According to CNN, the terrorist group said it was targeting Shiites.
Meanwhile, the top United Nations human rights official has called on Iraq to stop groups that are fighting alongside government forces against Islamic State from taking revenge on civilians and to clarify the fate of hundreds who went missing.
The series of attacks, which bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, killed both Muslims and non-Muslims, but also highlighted the reach of the militants beyond Iraq and Syria, where they hold territory and where a US -led coalition is focusing most of their resources against the extremists.
The powerful explosion early on Sunday came near the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when the streets were filled with young people and families out after sunset.
A police colonel and an interior ministry official both gave even higher death tolls for the attack.
With public anger mounting, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures Sunday evening, including increased aerial scanning and intelligence-gathering in the capital and the installation of X-ray systems at the entrances of provinces. It was likely that more victims were buried under the rubble of damaged buildings, the official said.
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Cook said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter was not surprised the attacks took place and the US military will assess the situation. In May, over 90 people were killed in ISIS attacks there, CNN says.
