82 killed in suicide car bomb attacks in Baghdad

Two areas were hit by bomb blasts in southern central Baghdad on Saturday with one occurring at about 01:00 local time when a suicide bomber detonated his car bomb at a crowded thoroughfare in Karrada-Dakhil, a local official who required anonymity said.

The powerful blast set fire to several shops and destroyed many stalls and civilian cars at the scene which was crowded with shoppers who were preparing for Eid al-Fitr, or the Festival of Fast-breaking, which marks the end of a month-long fasting for Muslims, said the source.

The Iraqi capital was the scene of another attack after midnight when a booby-trapped car went off at the Shallal popular market in the northeastern district of Shaab, killing a civilian and wounding five others, the source added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the scene of Karrada Sunday morning, and promised to punish those behind the attacks, according to a statement issued by his office.

“The terrorist groups carried out such desperate deadly attack as a result of being crushed in the battlefield,” the statement said, referring to the latest defeat of the Islamic State (IS) in the country’s western province of Anbar, including its stronghold in Fallujah, some 50 km west ofBaghdad.

Abadi also sent his condolences to the families of the killed and the wounded people and promised that “victory over these terrorist groups is very close.”

Iraq has been hit by a new wave of violence since the IS terrorist group seized parts of Iraq’s northern and western regions in June 2014.

A report by UN Assistance Mission for Iraq estimated that 662 Iraqis were killed and 1,457 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in June across the country.