BAGHDAD: Nearly 95 people were killed and 200 wounded in two bombings in Baghdad on Saturday, most of them in a busy shopping area in central Baghdad on Saturday as residents celebrated Ramadan, police and medical sources said Sunday.
The attack is the deadliest since U.S.-backed Iraqi forces last month scored a major victory when it dislodged Islamic State from their stronghold of Falluja, an hour's drive west of the capital.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered the offensive after a series of deadly bombings in Baghdad, saying Falluja served as a launchpad for such attacks on the capital. However, bombings have continued.
A truck-refrigerator packed with explosives blew up in Karrada. Daesh (Islamic State) claimed responsibility for the attack, in a statement circulated online by supporters of the ultra-hard line group. It said the blast was a suicide bombing.
Karrada was busy at the time as Iraqis eat out late during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends next week.
A video posted on social media showed a large blaze in the main street of Karrada after the blast. Reuters TV footage taken in the morning showed at least four buildings severely damaged or partly collapsed.
A roadside explosive device also blew up around midnight in a market in al-Shaab, a popular district in the north of the capital, leaving at least two killed, police and medical sources said.
Iraqi forces last month dislodgeDaeshmilitants from Falluja, their stronghold just west of the capital that had served as a launch pad for such attacks.
Updated at 18:51PST