NEWS SUMMARY: Shocking footage of inferno after ISIS Baghdad suicide attack
Horrifying video shows inferno tearing through rammed Baghdad shopping centre moments after ISIS suicide bomber detonated truck full of explosives killing 125 as they prepared for Eid festival
- ISIS suicide bomber fanatic blew up truck laden with explosives outside packed shopping centre in central Baghdad
- The streets of Iraqi capital were packed with young people and families at the end of the holy month of Ramadan
- Up to 125 people killed including children while 200 were injured in the attack but death toll could yet be higher
- Deadly explosion was followed shortly after by second attack which claimed the lives of five people and wounded 16
This horrifying first-hand video shows the deadly inferno that ripped through a packed Baghdad shopping centre – moments after an ISIS suicide bomb attack rocked the building.
More than 125 are feared dead after a truck laden with explosives was detonated outside the mall in the Karada district of the Iraqi capital which was rammed with shoppers preparing for Eid festival.
Most of the victims were inside the multi-story shopping and amusement mall, where dozens burned to death or suffocated in thick black smoke.
Shocking footage taken inside the shopping centre shows huge flames engulfing the building as a panic-stricken man behind the camera screams out.
At least 15 children were among those killed in the atrocity while more than 200 were injured. It was followed shortly after by a second blast in the east of the city which killed five more.
The bombings, which came near the end of the holy month of Ramadan, demonstrated the extremists’ ability to mount significant attacks despite major battlefield losses, including the city of Fallujah, which was declared ‘fully liberated’ from ISIS just over a week ago.
Iraqi firefighters extinguish a fire as civilians gather after a car bomb at a commercial area in Baghdad’s Karada neighborhood early Sunday
UN Iraq envoy Jan Kubich condemned the ‘cowardly and heinous act of unparallelled proportions,’ calling on authorities to bring those responsible to justice.
A police officer at the scene said the first attack killed 15 children, 10 women and six policemen.
The suicide bomber struck shortly after midnight, when families and young people were out on the streets after breaking their daylight fast for the holy month of Ramadan.
Most of the victims were inside a multi-story shopping and amusement mall, where dozens burned to death or suffocated, officials said.
‘It was like an earthquake,’ said Karim Sami, a 35-year-old street vendor. ‘I wrapped up my goods and was heading home when I saw a fire ball with a thunderous bombing. I was so scared to go back and started to make phone calls to my friends, but none answered,’ the father of three added. He said that one of his friends had been killed, another was wounded and one was still missing.
Dozens killed or injured in overnight Baghdad bombings
Dozens killed or injured in overnight Baghdad bombings from Akademi Portal on Vimeo.
The bombings, which came near the end of the holy month of Ramadan, demonstrated the extremists’ ability to mount significant attacks despite major battlefield losses, including the city of Fallujah, which was declared ‘fully liberated’ from IS just over a week ago
Over the last year, Iraq forces have racked up territorial gains against ISIS, retaking the city of Ramadi and the towns of Hit and Rutba, all in Iraq’s vast Anbar province west of Baghdad
Within hours, ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted online, saying they had deliberately targeted Shiite Muslims. The authenticity of the statement has not been verified, but it was posted on a militant website commonly used by the extremists.
At the scene, firefighters and civilians were seen carrying the dead away, their bodies wrapped in blankets and sheets. Smoke billowed from the shopping center, which was surrounded by the twisted and burned wreckage of cars and market stalls.
A group of women were sitting on the pavement, crying for their loved ones.
In the second attack, an improvised explosive device went off in Baghdad’s northern Shaab area, killing five people and wounding 16, another police officer said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of ISIS militants who often target commercial districts and Shiite areas.
Iraqi firefighters and civilians carry the bodies of victims killed in a car bomb at a commercial area in Karada neighborhood
Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to release information to the press.
The high death toll made it the second deadliest attack in the capital this year. On May 11, ISIS militants carried out three car bombings in Baghdad, killing 93 people.
Hours after the bombing, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and senior politicians visited the blast site. Video footage uploaded to social media showed an angry crowd, with people calling al-Abadi a ‘thief’ and shouting at his convoy. Eyewitness said the crowd pelted the al-Abadi’s car with rocks, shoes and cans.
Until the government launched its Fallujah operation, the prime minister had faced growing social unrest and anti-government protests sparked, in part, by popular anger at the lack of security in the capital. In one month, Baghdad’s highly-fortified Green Zone – which houses government buildings and diplomatic missions – was stormed twice by anti-government protesters.
HOW A DEADLY WAVE OF ISIS BOMBINGS HAS KILLED HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS IN IRAQ SINCE JANUARY
June 9: Two ISIS-claimed suicide bomb attacks near the entrance of a military base in Taji, north of Baghdad, and close to a market in the Iraqi capital kill at least 18 people.
May 17: A series of attacks including suicide bombings claimed by ISIS kill at least 48 people in Baghdad.
The deadliest bombing hit the frequently targeted Sadr City, a Shiite district in northern Baghdad, killing at least 24.
May 12: At least 16 people are killed when gunmen attack a cafe with gunfire and grenades north of Baghdad then detonate suicide belts against security forces in pursuit.
ISIS claims the attack on the cafe in the town of Balad popular with fans of Real Madrid football club.
May 11: ISIS claims three car bombs in Baghdad, including a huge blast at a market in a Shiite area, that kill at least 94 people, in the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital since the start of the year.
The worst bombing hits Sadr City, killing at least 64 people.
Another suicide car bomb attack kills at least 17 people at the entrance to the northwestern neighbourhood of Kadhimiya, which is home to an important Shiite shrine.
In the Jamiyah district of western Baghdad, another car bomb kills at least 13 people.
May 1: ISIS carries out rare attacks in mainly Shiite southern Iraq, killing at least 33 people with twin suicide car bomb blasts in the city of Samawa.
April 30: A car bombing targets Shiite pilgrims in an area near Baghdad, killing at least 23 people.
The bomb is left on a road in the Nahrawan area used by Shiite pilgrims walking to the shrine of an imam in northern Baghdad for annual commemorations.
March 25: In an attack claimed by ISIS, a suicide bomber blows himself up during a trophy ceremony after a local football tournament near Iskandiriyah, killing at least 32 people, many of them teenagers and children.
March 6: At least 61 people are killed when a massive truck bomb claimed by ISIS explodes at a crowded checkpoint at one of the entrances to the city of Hilla.
February 28: Bombings claimed by the jihadist group kill at least 33 people near a market in the Sadr City area.
January 11: In two attacks claimed by ISIS, jihadist gunmen and bombers kill at least 12 people in a busy market area of Baghdad, while a double blast at a cafe claims another 20 lives.
Suicide blasts, gunfights and hostage-taking kill at least 12 people in Baghdad Jadida. And dual bombings kill at least 20 people at the cafe in the town of Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad.
In Karada civilians expressed their frustration at the government’s failure to secure the capital.
‘We are in a state of war, and these places are targeted. The security can’t focus on the war (against ISIS) and forget Baghdad,’ Sami, the street vendor, said.
The U.N. envoy for Iraq, Jan Kubis, described the Karada attack as ‘a cowardly and heinous act of unparalleled proportions’ and urged the Iraqi government to redouble its security efforts to protect Iraqis during celebrations for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.
ISIS militants who ‘have suffered defeats at the battlefront are seeking to avenge their losses by targeting vulnerable civilians,’ Kubis added.
ISIS still controls Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul as well as significant patches of territory in the country’s north and west.
At the height of the extremist group’s power in 2014, ISIS rendered nearly a third of the country out of government control. Now, the militants are estimated to control only 14 percent of Iraqi territory, according to the office of Iraq’s prime minister.
