Goods were strewn near the scene of the bombing of the Woheilat market, which claimed at least 25 lives in Sadr town on Monday. Photo: Khalid Mohammed / AP
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At least 25 people were killed and more than 30 wounded when a bomb exploded in a busy market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, according to security forces.
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The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
“A terrorist attack with a locally produced bomb on the Woheilat market in Sadr city in eastern Baghdad has led to more deaths and injuries,” the Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Since the first reports of the attack, the number of killed and wounded has risen sharply. Two unnamed sources in the security forces told the news agency AP on Monday night that at least 25 people were killed. Several children are among the victims, according to AFP’s source in the Ministry of the Interior.
Before the holidays
The attack took place the day before the holiday id al-adha, and many were out shopping for gifts and groceries.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the extremist Islamist group IS has previously been behind similar attacks in the area.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has ordered the arrest of the head of the federal police force responsible for the area where the bomb went off, the military said. An investigation has also been launched.
Worst in three years
This is the third time this year that a bomb has hit a market in the densely populated Sadr city of Iraq’s capital.
In June, 15 people were injured when a bomb exploded in a kiosk. In April, at least four people were killed in a car bomb attack in the parking lot of a market.
Major bombings were almost daily in Baghdad at the time. But the attacks have slowed in recent years since IS was defeated on the battlefield in 2017.
In January, however, 30 people were killed when two suicide bombers attacked a shopping street in central Baghdad. It was the worst attack in three years in the city.
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