Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi yesterday called for the elimination of extremist “sleeper cells” after a twin suicide bombing killed 38 people in Baghdad in the second such attack in three days.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but most such attacks in Iraq are the work of the Islamic State (IS) group.
The bombings come after al-Abadi’s government last month declared victory over the Islamic State and as the country gears up for parliamentary elections.
Photo: Reuters
“Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Tayyaran Square in central Baghdad,” said General Saad Maan, spokesman for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police.
The twin explosions also wounded at least 105 people, Iraqi health and police officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Tayyaran Square is a bustling commercial center and a place where day laborers gather in the early morning waiting for jobs.
Ambulances rushed to the scene as security forces sealed off the area with yellow tape.
Slippers could be seen scattered about on the blood-stained pavement as cleaners hurried to clear the debris.
Photographs posted on social media showed lifeless bodies and pieces of limbs.
The twin explosions shocked residents in the capital because large attacks had decreased significantly in Baghdad and other parts of country since security forces retook nearly all territory once held by IS militants.
Munthir Falah, a vendor who sells secondhand clothes at the market, survived with shrapnel injuries to his chest and right leg.
“It was a tremendous, I felt the ground shaking under my feet,” he told The Associated Press. “I fell on the ground and lost conscious to find myself later in the hospital.”
Falah, a father of three, blamed the government forces for not doing enough to secure the capital and its residents.
Al-Abadi held an emergency meeting with the Joint Operations Command and intelligence officials after the bombings, his office said, asking them to “eliminate IS sleeper cells” and ensure the security of civilians.
Analysts have warned that IS would increasingly turn to such tactics as it was pushed underground after losing territory spanning the Iraq-Syria border.
Just hours after the first attack, another bombing in the east of Baghdad killed one person and wounded three, a police officer said.
A suicide bomb attack on Saturday near a security checkpoint killed at least five people in northern Baghdad.
Additional reporting by AP
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