Deadly car bombing left over 100 people dead in Iraq, ISIS claims responsibility

Rescuers working on the site of a deadly suicide bombing in
Iraq
(Image: Haaretz)

More than 100 people were killed and hundreds injured in a deadly suicide car bombing on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr in Iraq. The bombing was carried out in the city of Khan Bani Saad in Diyala province, which is about 30 km from Baghdad.

This attack was one of the deadliest that the militants of Islamic State have carried out in Iraq. An explosion was that strong that it brought down several buildings in the city, crushing to death dozens of people who gathered there to celebrate the first day of Eid Al-Fitr, one of the biggest Muslim holidays, marking the end of Ramadan.

Over 100 people were killed in the blast and hundreds were injured, many of them badly, according to Iraqi police and medics working on the field. The rescue operation is ongoing, as the rescuers are trying to retrieve bodies and injured people from the debris, so the death toll could possible rise, stated the representatives of Iraqi Health Ministry.

After the explosion went off and the buildings fell killing dozens under the debris, people took to the streets of the city in anger and despair, smashing the windows of the cars parked nearby in grief, according to the eyewitnesses’ reports. The outcome of this bombing was devastating and terrible, shocking people with its cruelty.

ISIS that controls large parts of Iraq and Syria has claimed responsibility for the Friday deadly attack in Iraqi city of Khan Bani Saad. The group claimed in their statement on Twitter that the ISIS suicide bomber has carried out an attack against the “rejectionists”, namely Shia Muslims, and that the vehicle was laden with three tones of explosives. ISIS militants consider Shia Muslims infidels and have targeted them in numerous deadly attacks not only in Iraq and Syria, but in other Middle Eastern countries as well.

Diyala provincial government has declared three days of mourning and ordered all the parks and entertainment places to be closed, as additional security measures were taken and the presence of security forces increased in the streets.

Diyala province was previously controlled by the ISIS militants, but Iraqi official forces have declared victory over the jihadists’ forces in this region, so the province came back under the governmental control early this year. Though military and security forces focused more on the western Iraqi province of Anbar in the recent weeks, where they are attempting to retake Iraqi’s biggest Sunni dominated governorate, currently controlled by ISIS.