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May 31, 2017

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Baghdad blasts kill 27, wound over 100

TWO bombings killed at least 27 people and wounded more than 100 in Baghdad, officials said yesterday, as Iraqi forces fight to retake the last Islamic State group-held areas of Mosul.

In the deadliest of the two attacks, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a popular ice cream shop around midnight local time, killing at least 16 people and wounding 75.

The bomber struck just days after the start of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, during which Iraqis often stay out late shopping or socializing after breaking their daily fast.

IS issued a statement claiming the attack, identifying the bomber as an Iraqi who targeted Shiite Muslims.

IS considers members of Iraq’s Shiite majority — including the women and children who were victims of the ice cream shop blast — to be heretics and thus legitimate targets for attack.

Images and footage posted on social media showed the devastating impact of the blast, which ripped through the crowded area around Al-Faqma ice cream shop in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, scattering rubble across the street.

One photo showed cups of ice cream scattered on the blood-stained ground.

Brett McGurk, the US envoy to the international coalition fighting IS, condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with Iraq.

IS “terrorists tonight in Baghdad target children & families enjoying time together at an ice cream shop. We stand w/Iraq against this evil,” McGurk said on Twitter.

In the second attack, a car bomb exploded near one of Baghdad’s main bridges, the Al-Shuhada Bridge, yesterday morning, killing at least 11 people and wounding at least 35.


 

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