At least 32 died in the Baghdad suicide bomb attack
Twin suicide bombings at a Baghdad market killedat least 32 people and injured 110 others on Thursday, according to Iraq’s health ministry. Of the injured, 36 are being treated in hospitals.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
Two suicide bombers detonated their vests when security forces pursued them through a busy market off Tayaran Square. Witnesses saidthe first cried out he was ill, causing a crowd to form around himin a street off the main square. He then detonated the bomb he wore.
The first attack occurred around 10 a.m. local time, a fruit vendor, Abbas Abdulkareem, told NPR.
People fled toward Tayaran Square, Abdulkareem said. Police and an ambulance arrived. Then the second bomber detonated next to the ambulance as people gathered near the dead and wounded from the first blast.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said the people behind a double suicide bomb attack at a market in Baghdad must be brought to justice.
“The secretary-general reiterates the commitment of the United Nations to support the people and government of Iraq in their efforts to consolidate peace,” he also said.
Iraq battled the Islamic State for three years, declaring them vanquished in 2017. But sleeper cells reportedly remain, particularly in the north of the country.
