Rare twin suicide attack kills at least 32 in Baghdad

 Two men blew themselves up in a crowded Baghdad market on Thursday, killing at least 32 people in Iraq’s first big suicide bombing for three years, authorities said, describing it as a possible sign of the reactivation of Islamic State.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Suicide bombings have been rare in the Iraqi capital since the defeat of the Islamic State militant group in 2017. The last took place in January 2018.

The Iraqi military said two attackers wearing explosive vests blew themselves up among shoppers at a crowded market in Tayaran Square in central Baghdad, and that several people had been killed.

Suicide attacks, once an almost daily occurrence in the Iraqi capital, have halted in recent years since Islamic State fighters were defeated in 2017, part of an overall improvement in security that has brought normal life back to Baghdad.

“Daesh terrorist groups might be standing behind the attacks,” Civil Defence chief Major General Kadhim Salman told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

Reuters cameramen saw pools of blood at the scene shortly after the blast.

A video taken from a rooftop and circulated on social media purported to show the second blast scattering people gathered in the area. Images shared online showed several people apparently dead or wounded.

Absolutely heartbreaking. Twin suicide bombings have hit an open-air #Baghdad market on Thursday. 20 dead and 40 wounded so far. This is the moment of second suicide explosion.#PrayForBaghdad @akhbarpic.twitter.com/HlWvyy2IRM

— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) January 21, 2021

 

Reuters could not independently verify those images.

Baghdad has witnessed almost no such attacks since Iraqi forces and a US-backed coalition drove Islamic State from territory it controlled in Iraq in 2017.

The last deadly suicide blast in the Iraqi capital, also at Tayaran Square, killed at least 27 people in January 2018.

Iraqi authorities did not immediately say who they believed was behind the bombing, but called it a terrorist incident, a reference usually used for attacks by Islamic State.

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Militants from the group remain in Iraq, waging an insurgency against Iraqi forces and attacking local officials in areas of northern Iraq. Government and military officials do not now consider Islamic State able to take over significant territory but say it will continue to wage attacks that threaten Iraq’s stability and security.

Iraqi forces continue to fight remaining Islamic State militants and are working to secure the border with Syria across which the group has often moved personnel.