Car bomb attack on packed Baghdad market

Car bomb attack on packed Baghdad market
Another car bomb rocked the Iraqi capital on Tuesday morning, killing at least 11 people at an outdoor market in a Shia-majority district of Baghdad.
2 min read
12 July, 2016
The car bomb attack followed the killing of 300 people [AFP]
A suicide car bomb ripped through an outdoor market in a Shia-dominated northeastern district of Baghdad on Tuesday morning killing at least 11 people. 

The Iraqi capital is in lockdown after government troops closed major roads.

The Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, said the troops were "practicing for a planned military parade for a specific occasion".

It was still not clear if the gridlock was due to preparations for the anniversary of the 14 July Revolution which overthrew the monarchy in 1958, or the bombings.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack, but experts say it bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group.

The bombing came in the wake of two large-scale attacks in Baghdad last week, which killed 300 people and claimed by IS.

Last Thursday, an attack at a Shia shrine north of Baghdad killed at least 37 people.

The recent uptick in attacks beyond the front lines comes after territorial losses for the group in both Iraq and Syria, where it has established a self-proclaimed caliphate in 2014.

IS militants still hold pockets of territory in northern and western Iraq.

On Monday, US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter said Washington will send 560 more troops to Iraq to help battle IS.

According to Carter, who on Monday met with top Iraqi officials, the new US troops should arrive in the coming weeks. 

Their task will be to transform an air base retaken this month from IS into a staging hub for the long-awaited battle to recapture Mosul - Iraq's second-largest city - from the militants.




Agencies contributed to this story.