A suicide car bombing in Iraq’s eastern Diyala Governorate killed at least 80 people gathered at a marketplace to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Iraqi police officials said at least 50 people were also wounded in the attack in the town of Khan Bani Saad. Hospital officials confirmed the death tolls. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to talk to media.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to messages posted on Twitter. The claim could not be independently verified, but it was posted by accounts commonly associated with the group.
Security has been ramped up in areas across Iraq since the start of Ramadan amid fears that the Sunni militant group would use the occasion to assault civilians to destabilize the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
Parts of the predominantly-mixed Diyala were captured by the Islamic State group last year. Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have since retaken those areas, but clashes between the militants and security forces continue.
In August last year, at least 64 people were killed in an attack on a Sunni mosque in the volatile province. The attack prompted Sunni lawmakers to pull out of sensitive talks last summer aimed at forming a new government after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was elected.
The Islamic State fighters had been trying to convince two prominent Sunni tribes in the area to join them, but that they have so far refused, provoking what many described as retaliatory attacks.
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