Ghabban said the explosives-rigged auto came from Diyala province north of Baghdad, meaning it likely successfully navigated a security checkpoint on the way into the capital.
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Another one was killed in a separate auto bombing in a market in northeastern Baghdad.
Sunday’s bombing in central Baghdad was the deadliest attack in Iraq since the 2003 USA -led invasion.
The death toll from a massive auto bombing in Baghdad at the weekend has risen to at 281, Iraqi Health Minister Adeela Hammoud said Thursday.
An Interior Ministry source said at least 165 people were killed and 225 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Karrada-Dakhil district in southern Baghdad.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information to the media.
Al-Abadi accused what he called “terrorist gangs” of carrying out the bombing after “they were crushed on the battlefield”.
At the height of the group’s power in 2014, it controlled almost a third of Iraqi and Syrian territory.
Despite a string of territorial gains by Iraq’s ground forces against ISIL, the group has repeatedly shown it remains capable of launching attacks in Iraqi territory far from the frontlines.
And some expressed anger at the government, blaming it for the attack.
The Baghdad attack came a week after IS was pushed out of the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
An official in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office told AFP on Wednesday that the premier had accepted the minister’s resignation, though there has been no official statement from him on the matter.
He also blamed a lack of communication between multiple forces in charge of the capital’s security, saying he could not be “responsible for this confusion in this security system”.
Responsibility for securing Baghdad is shared by the army, federal and local police. The Ministry of Interior’s website was hacked and a picture of a bloodied baby was posted along with a bomb detector bearing the Islamic State’s markings – making the point that the fake wands aid only those intent on killing civilians.
More than a day after a suicide truck bomb ripped through Baghdad, families are still hoping that rescuers searching through the rubble can locate the bodies of their loved ones. It said the blast was a suicide bombing.
At the time of the blast, the mosque was packed with thousands of worshippers breaking their daylong fast and preparing for the sunset prayers.
Although this attack was big – it was not unusual.
“ISIS is going to continue to do this, because this is success for them”, Francona said.
Two years ago, militants were removed through large area of northern and western Iraq. “People never imagined that this could happen here”.
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”. Dozens burned to death or suffocated, a police officer said. “It is an attack on the religion itself”, the statement said.
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There was no crater at the scene of the explosion and damage to the buildings was mostly caused by fire, which forensic officials said was unusual for a bomb of this size.
