Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the car bombing, which also injured 185 people
By: Ghassan Adnan in Baghdad and Karen Leigh in Dubai
The bombing marks the extremist group’s first major attack on the Iraqi capital since losing the nearby city of Fallujah to Iraqi forces late last month. It was the latest in a series of defeats in Syria and Iraq that have squeezed the militants who have responded by reverting to more guerrilla-style tactics such as suicide attacks on civilians in urban areas.
The explosion in the upscale central neighborhood of Karrada went off around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday in front of a well-known Shiite mosque, setting nearby buildings ablaze, said interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan. The streets were packed with young people and families reveling after sundown and the breaking of the Ramadan fast. The terror group last attacked the heavily patrolled area in May 2015.
Islamic State, a Sunni militant group, said in a statement distributed online that it had targeted a gathering of Shiites. It and other Sunni extremists reject Shiism, calling it polytheism.
Minutes after the Karrada bombing an improvised explosive device detonated in the crowded east Baghdad neighborhood al-Shaab, killing four people and wounding 16, the interior ministry said. The blast targeted young Iraqis who were out shopping for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan and begins this week. No group has claimed responsibility for the second attack.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi toured the site hours after the explosion, promising to punish those responsible, his office said. But angry crowds there jeered him, calling him a thief.
“Leave, leave, don’t let him stay here,” they said.
Mr. Abadi has presided over months of political uncertainty, partly caused by frequent attacks on Baghdad and other cities that have exposed gaps in Iraq’s security infrastructure.
“Despite repeated promises made by security forces, the slaughtering of Iraqis continues on a daily basis by the terrorists,” former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said in a statement.
A protest movement this year questioned Mr. Abadi’s leadership and called for immediate government reform.
Mr. Maan said measures would be taken against the security personnel in charge of the area where the explosion took place.
“We are making efforts to arrest the criminals who [carried out] this crime. Such crimes will not stop us from defeating the terrorism of Daesh,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
The Iraqi army reclaimed full control of Fallujah from Islamic State on June 26. The Anbar province city some 40 miles west from Baghdad had served as a command center for the terror group, and was one of its last major strongholds in Iraq following losses in Ramadi and the northern city of Sinjar.
Islamic State retains control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which it has held since blitzing the country in 2014 and seizing about one-third of its territory. An offensive to reclaim the city has been discussed for two years but not launched.
The group’s ability to stage major attacks in well-secured parts of Baghdad underline the group’s resilience and the government’s failure to uproot it.
“Daesh is trying to prove its existence by [carrying out] attacks in Karrada, specially after being defeated in Fallujah,” said Saad Al Mutalibi, deputy head of the Baghdad provincial council’s security committee.
In May, Islamic State claimed a series of bombings over three days that left more than 100 people dead across Baghdad, in some of the deadliest insurgent violence in recent years.
— Ali A. Nabhan in Baghdad contributed to this article.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/baghdad-bombings-target-busy-shopping-districts-1467531437?mod=fox_australian
