Daesh claims blast in marketplace in Iraqi capital, confusion on casualties

 

BAGHDAD: A blast rocked Baghdad’s northeastern Sadr City district on Thursday but there were differing accounts on whether it caused any casualties.

Police Colonel Jamal Hameed told Reuters a parcel had been found on the side of the road near a market and detonated in a controlled explosion, hurting no one.

He said an earlier statement by the joint military-police Baghdad Operations Command mentioning a suicide bomb and several deaths had been released in error.

That statement had said a bomber detonated an explosive belt surrounded by security forces. Local media reported that at least eight people were killed.

"A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up close to stalls at the crowded Jamila market," said the senior police officer, who asked not to be named.

15 others were wounded, a security official said.

A medical source confirmed that the nearby Al-Kindi hospital had received eight bodies.

On the other hand, Daesh claimed responsibility for the blast, saying a suicide bomber had detonated an explosive vest in the northeastern Sadr City district of the Iraqi capital and killed eight people.

“He […] entered into a gathering of infidels ... and detonated his vest, killing eight and wounding more than 10 others,” the group said in a statement.

The blast hit days after the start of the holy month of Ramzan when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset and tend to congregate in public places after breaking their fast.

Devastated by years of conflict, Iraq declared victory over Daesh militants in 2017 after a gruelling months-long campaign to dismantle their self-declared "caliphate".

But sleeper cells have remained active, attacking civilians and security forces across the country. A twin suicide bombing in Baghdad in January last year killed 31 people, the second such attack in three days.