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Baghdad market car bomb attack kills dozens At least 52 killed in Baghdad market car bomb attack
(about 1 hour later)
A car bomb in a Shia district of Baghdad has killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 60 others, Iraqi police and hospital sources say. A car bomb has ripped through a commercial area in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad, killing at least 52 people and wounding 78 others in an attack swiftly claimed by Islamic State.
The SUV packed with explosives exploded near a beauty salon in a bustling market at rush hour in the Sadr City district. Most of the victims were women and many of the wounded were in critical condition, the sources said. Shortly after the explosion, one of the deadliest in the Iraqi capital for months, the Sunni extremist group said it was responsible. Isis said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, but Iraqi officials denied that.
A pickup truck packed with explosives went off at rush hour near a beauty salon in a bustling outdoor market in the Sadr City district. Many of the victims were women including several brides who appeared to be getting ready for their weddings, police and hospital sources told Reuters.
The bodies of two men said to be grooms were found in an adjacent barber shop.
Wigs, shoes and children’s toys were scattered on the ground outside. At least two cars were destroyed in the explosion, their parts scattered far from the blast site.
Security has gradually improved in the Iraqi capital, which was the target of daily bombings a decade ago, but violence directed against the security forces and Shia civilians is still frequent.
The bombing also showed that Isis is still capable of launching significant attacks across the country despite a number of territorial defeats in the past year. It has recently stepped up assaults inside Baghdad, something officials say is an attempt to distract from the recent battlefield defeats.
Related: Mosul: suspicion and hostility cloud fight to recapture Iraqi city from IsisRelated: Mosul: suspicion and hostility cloud fight to recapture Iraqi city from Isis
Islamic State claimed responsibility. The ultra-hardline Sunni jihadi group, which considers Shias apostates, also said it had carried out a twin suicide bombing in Sadr City in February that killed 70 people. Ambulances rushed to the scene, where dozens of residents walked through the twisted and mangled wreckage of cars and other debris that littered the pavement, trying to help the victims.
Security has gradually improved in Baghdad, which was the target of daily bombings a decade ago, but violence directed against both the security forces and civilians is still frequent and sometimes leads to reprisal attacks. Rescue workers stepped through puddles of blood to put out fires and remove victims. Smoke was still rising from several shops hours after the explosion as a bulldozer cleared the burnt-out chassis of the vehicle used in the blast.
The fight against Isis has exacerbated a long-running sectarian conflict in Iraq, mostly between the Shia majority and Sunni minority. Karim Salih, a 45-year old grocer, said the pickup truck was parked by a man who quickly disappeared among the crowds of people.
Sectarian violence also threatens to undermine US-backed efforts to dislodge the militant group from vast areas of the north and west of Iraq that it seized in 2014. “The force of the explosion threw me metres away and I lost conscious for a few minutes,” Salih said. He suffered no injuries, but two of his workers were wounded.
In its online statement, Isis said it had carried out a suicide attack that targeted a gathering of Shia militiamen.
Isis controls significant territory in northern and western Iraq, including Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul. Commercial and public places in Shia-dominated areas are among the most frequent targets for its militants seeking to undermine Iraqi government efforts to maintain security inside the capital.
In February, the group carried out devastating back-to-back market bombings in Sadr City, the stronghold of followers of an influential Shia cleric. That attack killed at least 73 people.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report