ISIS Unleashes 3 Big Bombings on Baghdad

Death toll at 88 and rising
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 11, 2016 10:50 AM CDT
ISIS Unleashes 3 Big Bombings on Baghdad
Citizens inspect the scene after a car bomb explosion at a crowded outdoor market in the Iraqi capital's eastern district of Sadr City.   (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

The Islamic State has unleashed a wave of deadly bombings on Baghdad, resulting in what the Washington Post calls "the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital in months." The AP has the death toll at 88 in three separate assaults:

  • A car bombing of an outdoor market in Sadr City killed at least 63 people and left even more injured.
  • In northern Baghdad, a suicide car bomb in the neighborhood of Jamiya killed seven and wounded 22.
  • A suicide car bomb at a police station in Baghdad's northwest Kadhimiyah neighborhood killed 18, of whom five were policemen. The attack also wounded 34.

The blast at the outdoor market took place in the morning when the venue was packed with vendors and customers, seemingly calculated to claim a large number of civilian casualties. Witnesses say a man entered the market in a pickup truck laden with fruits and vegetables, parked the vehicle, and then walked away before it exploded minutes later, reports the New York Times. ISIS, a Sunni group, has been going after Shiites, and Sadr City has one of the biggest such communities in Iraq, notes the Times. (More Baghdad stories.)

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