Roj Bash Kurdistan

Associated Press



Truck bomb blast in Baghdad: 67 killed, more than 150 injured

A massive truck bomb ripped through a popular Baghdad food market in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood early on Thursday morning, killing at least 67 people, police officials said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted a gathering place of Shiites and vowed more attacks.

The truck detonated in the Jameela market in the Iraqi capital's crowded Sadr City neighbourhood shortly after dawn, according to two local police officers.

They also said that at least 152 people were wounded in the attack. The market is the main center for produce and food sales in the Iraqi capital.

Residents of the Shiite community rushed to help the victims, carrying corpses in garbage bags and blankets, and sent the wounded to local hospitals in ambulances or personal cars. The blast incinerated much of the market, leaving charred wooden market stalls and scattering fruits and vegetables far around it.

Fire trucks and ambulances were at the scene and fire men were dousing the still-smoldering complex with water long after the explosion.

"On Thursdays the market is especially crowded because people come from the other provinces to stock up on food for the weekend," one of the officers said. He said the truck that set off the explosion was a refrigeration truck, so it was impossible to distinguish it from other trucks delivering produce to the market.

A minibus driver, Hassan Hamid, said he driving not far from the area when the force of the explosion threw his vehicle about 10 meters (yards) away and onto the sidewalk. "This is the strongest explosion I've ever seen in my life," said the 37-year old father of three, speaking from his hospital bed where he was being treated for shrapnel injuries. "I saw some cars were thrown into the sky and a fire erupted all over the place."

Four hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

In a message posted on an IS-affiliated Twitter account, the Islamic State said the attack was carried out by a parked, explosives-laden truck. The claim says the Islamic State seeks to have the "rejectionists (Shiites) experience the same harm as their bombardments cause to our Muslim people."

http://www.firstpost.com/world/truck-bo ... 92168.html

Reuters

Islamic State claims huge truck bomb attack in Baghdad's Sadr City

At least 76 people were killed and 212 wounded on Thursday in a blast claimed by Islamic State in Baghdad's Sadr City, police and medical sources said, one of the biggest attacks on the capital since Haider al-Abadi became prime minister a year ago.

"A refrigerator truck packed with explosives blew up inside Jamila market at around 6 a.m. (0300 GMT)," police officer Muhsin al-Saedi said. "Many people were killed and body parts were thrown on top of nearby buildings."

A statement circulated online by supporters of Islamic State said the blast had targeted what it called a stronghold of the "charlatan army" and Shi'ite Muslim militias.

The market in the Shi'ite neighbourhood is one of the biggest in Baghdad selling wholesale food items. A Reuters witness at the site saw fruit and vegetables mixed with shrapnel littering the blood-soaked blast crater.

Link to Full Article - Photos - Video:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/08/1 ... DA20150813

BBC News

Iraqi capital sees fresh round of deadly bombings


The Sadr City attack on Saturday targetted a vehicle market

At least 20 people have been killed and many others injured in a spate of bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and two nearby towns.

The most deadly was caused by a car bomb in the mainly Shia Sadr City area.

The same district was hit by a massive truck bomb two days ago that killed more than 60 people and was claimed by Islamic State militants.

Sadr City has been the target of several bomb attacks this year claimed by IS who consider Shia to be heretics.

No claim

Saturday's attack targeted a vehicle market in the Habibiya area of Sadr City which had been targeted multiple times in the past, AP news agency said.

Fifteen people were killed and a further 35 injured, officials said.

A police officer told the agency that CCTV "showed a man parking a white car and sneaking into a nearby tea kiosk. Five minutes later the car exploded."

No group has admitted the bombing so far.

Other attacks took place in the town of Madain, just south of Baghdad, and Taji to the north, as well as in two suburbs of the capital.

In recent months, dozens of people have been killed in bombings across Baghdad. In May and July, large car bombs exploded outside two prominent hotels.

Earlier in the week, a top American general said the US should consider embedding American troops with Iraqi forces if progress was not made in the fight against IS.

Raymond Odierno, the army's outgoing chief of staff, told reporters that such forces would have a support rather than a combat role.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-33947849