At least 28 killed and dozens injured in suicide bombing in Baghdad

Defence Redefined

21/01/2021

Nearly 30 people were killed today when two suicide bombers detonated their explosives in a market in central Baghdad, the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in three years. 

A man detonated his explosive belt in the middle of a clothes market in Tayaran Square, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said.

As the crowd rushed to help the victims of the first attack, another man detonated the explosives he was carrying, the same source added.

According to the latest report by the official Iraqi news agency, 28 people have been killed and 73 injured.

Medical sources, on the other hand, express concern about the increase in the number of dead, while the Ministry of Health has put all the health personnel of the Iraqi capital on high alert.

Caution! Disturbing images follow. 

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Parliamentary elections

The site of the attack, a busy junction in Baghdad, is teeming with blood and rags of clothes torn by the explosion.

Soldiers and members of the emergency services have been deployed en masse in the square, with the former blocking access to civilians and the latter evacuating corpses and providing first aid to the wounded.

A similar bombing took place in the same square three years ago, killing 31 people.

As in 2018, the attack took place today as the Iraqi authorities are discussing holding parliamentary elections in the country, an event that is usually accompanied by an increase in violence.

The government had announced early parliamentary elections in June, but the authorities are now recommending their postponement until October so that the Electoral Commission can have more time to organize the vote.

Many politicians, however, doubt that early elections will be held – in June or October – because the precondition for this is the dissolution of the parliament. Only MPs can vote on this and so far no one can say if they do so.

Also read: Iraq | Eleven killed in IS attack near Baghdad

Lurking terrorist cells in the Islamic State

At present no group has claimed responsibility for today’s twin bombing, but suicide bombings are usually carried out by ISIS, which put one third of Iraq under its control in 2014, before Baghdad declared its victory over the jihadists at the end of 2017.

Since then, lurking terrorist cells have been hiding in mountainous areas of the Islamic State or in the desert. So far, however, the jihadists have claimed responsibility for smaller attacks, which are mainly carried out at night against military positions in isolated areas, far from cities.

This was the first attack in the Iraqi capital since June 2019.

The attack also came after the United States reduced its troop numbers in Iraq to 2,500, a reduction “equivalent to an increase in the Iraqi army’s capabilities,” as the Pentagon chief, Christopher Miller, stated.

The reduction “does not mean a change in US policy,” he said. “The US and coalition forces remain in Iraq to ensure a permanent defeat,” he said.

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