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  World   Middle East  15 Jan 2018  Baghdad: Double suicide bombing kills 38, injures over 105

Baghdad: Double suicide bombing kills 38, injures over 105

PTI
Published : Jan 15, 2018, 12:41 pm IST
Updated : Jan 15, 2018, 2:53 pm IST

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but most such attacks in Iraq are the work of the Islamic State jihadist group.

 An AFP photographer at the site of the bombing said many ambulances had gathered and security forces had been deployed in large numbers. (Photo: AFP)
  An AFP photographer at the site of the bombing said many ambulances had gathered and security forces had been deployed in large numbers. (Photo: AFP)

Baghdad: Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a busy street market in central Baghdad on Monday, in back-to-back explosions that killed at least 38 people, Iraqi health and police officials said.

The attackers struck during rush hour in the city's Tayran Square, which is usually crowded by laborers seeking work.

The twin explosions also wounded at least 105 people, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media.

Earlier reports by spokesmen from the Health Ministry and the Interior Ministry had 26 killed and at least 16 dead, respectively, and dozens wounded.

Ambulances rushed to the scene as security forces sealed off the area with yellow tape.

Slippers could be seen scattered about on the blood-stained pavement as cleaners hurried to clear the debris.

Photographs posted on social media showed lifeless bodies and pieces of limbs.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which has claimed many such attacks in the past.

The twin explosions shocked residents in the Iraqi capital because large attacks had decreased significantly in Baghdad and other parts of country since security forces retook nearly all territory once held by IS militants.

Iraqi and US officials have warned that IS would continue with insurgent-style attacks even after the Iraqi military and US-led coalition succeeded in uprooting the Islamic State group across the country.

The cost of victory has been nearly incalculable as the three years of war against IS devastated much of northern and western Iraq -- roughly a third of the country -- where Islamic State militants had held most of the territory.

Tags: suicide bombing, islamic state, jihadist elements, tayyaran square
Location: Iraq, Baghdad, Baghdad