The White House condemned the bombings, saying the attacks only strengthened the United States’ resolve to confront IS.
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The blast set buildings ablaze, and crowds of people watched from the rubble-filled street as emergency personnel carried out victims and worked on the site.
Iraqi officials say the death toll from the auto bomb attack claimed by the Islamic State group in central Baghdad has climbed to at least 115.
The militant group said the blast targeted members of Iraq’s Shi’ite Muslim majority, whom the Sunni extremists consider heretics and frequently attack in Baghdad and elsewhere.
Hours after the bombing, al-Abadi visited the attack site in Karada, but a furious mob surrounded his convoy, yelling expletives, hurling rocks and shoes at the prime minister’s cars and calling him a “thief”.
The bombing was claimed by Islamic State, also known as Isis.
“There was already a wedge there, it is fairly easy for them to exploit this”.
“What we need to do is go to Iraq and kill them”, McCain said on CBS Face the Nation.
He said that IS militants who have “suffered defeats at the battlefront are seeking to avenge their losses by targeting vulnerable civilians”.
The lack of security is one of the biggest issues in Iraq, especially in Baghdad, and unfortunately as USA backed Iraqi forces continue to push into ISIS territory, the group is likely to keep lashing out with attacks like these. Many of those killed were said to be children.
The bombing left 151 people dead and at least 185 others injured, according to a health ministry source speaking anonymously due to safety fears.
Senator John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, on Sunday said U.S. soldiers could help eradicate Islamic State in Iraq.
“The Philippines offers its heartfelt condolences to the Republic of Iraq and the families of the victims of these cowardly acts of violence”, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement. “ISIS says, ‘We kill Shiites, ‘ but I lost my dearest friends to me in this explosion, and they were Sunnis”, Hadi said, using another acronym for the Islamic State.
“But here, I don’t know who I’m fighting”, he said.
ISIS attacked only a week after Iraqi forces liberated Fallujah, which the terrorist group held for over two years.
The Associated Press notes at the height of the extremist group’s power in 2014, the Islamic State had driven the government from control across almost one-third of Iraqi territory. It was the latest in a string of assaults during Ramadan, when jihadists often launch operations against those they regard as their enemies.
The Iraqi government announced victory of retaking Fallujah, one of the last two strongholds of IS in Iraq, late last month, after nearly a month of military operations.
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The bombing was swiftly claimed by Daesh, which overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in 2014. Now the militants are estimated to control only 14%, according to the prime minister’s office.
