DEADLY TWIN SUICIDE ATTACK KILL NEARLY 30, INJURE 73 IN BAGHDAD

Thu 21 January 2021:

A twin suicide bombing killed nearly 30 and wounded 73 others in a Baghdad market on Thursday, the first such attack in years, security and medical sources said.

Brigadier General Hazem al-Azzawi, the director of Baghdad Operations Command, told the Iraq News Agency (INA) that a “double explosion” hit a crowded market in the Bab al-Sharji area near Tayaran Square.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Suicide bombings have been rare in the Iraqi capital since the defeat of the ISIS militant group in 2017. The last took place in January 2018.

Medical sources told AFP news agency they feared the death toll could rise. The health ministry said it had mobilised medics across the capital to respond to the deadly attack.

A video taken from a rooftop and circulated on social media purported to show the second blast scattering people gathered in the area. Images shared online showed several people apparently dead or wounded.

The moment of the second suicide attack in Baghdad #Iraq pic.twitter.com/SU3O6bb1Y6

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) January 21, 2021

After years of deadly sectarian violence following the 2003 US invasion, suicide bombings have become relatively rare in the capital. The last such attack took place in June 2019 and left several people dead.

Militias have routinely targeted the US presence with rocket and mortar attacks, especially the US embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone. The pace of the attacks has decreased since an informal truce was declared by Iran-backed armed groups in October.

Iraqi authorities did not immediately say who they believed was behind the bombing, but called it a terrorist incident, a reference usually used for attacks by ISIS.