Islamic State claims responsibility for Baghdad twin suicide bombings

Baghdad: The Islamic State (IS) terror group has claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings at a crowded market area in Baghdad, that killed 32 people and injured 116 others, Iraqi media reports said Friday.

The group identified the two suicide bombers as Abu Yousif al-Ansari and Mohammed Arif al-Muhajir, who targeted a gathering of Shia people in downtown Baghdad on Thursday, the local media reports quoted an online IS statement as saying.

Thursday morning, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt in a bustling outdoor market for second-hand clothes in Bab al-Sharji area, and a second one blew himself up a few minutes later in the same area.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, also commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, chaired an emergency meeting with security and intelligence commanders to discuss the security breach in Baghdad.

Following the meeting, a statement by al-Kadhimi’s media office said that he launched an investigation into the incident.

Meanwhile, al-Kadhimi also sacked five security senior officials and commanders in the wake of the bombings, according to a tweet by Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of of the Iraqi forces.

This was the first such attack in the Iraqi capital city in nearly two year, as the security situation has improved since the Iraqi security forces fully defeated the Islamic State terror group across the country late in 2017.

However, sporadic deadly incidents still occur in the war-ravaged country.

IANS