Suicide Attack in Iraq’s Sadr City Kills at Least 35, Wounds Dozens

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of an explosion in Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 19, 2021. (Wissam Al-Okaili/Reuters)

BAGHDAD—A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded dozens in a crowded market in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad on Monday, the eve of the Eid al-Adha festival, security and hospital sources said.

More than 60 people were wounded, a police source said.

The ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack, the group’s Nasheer news agency said on Telegram. It said one of its terrorists blew up his explosive vest among the crowds.

Hospital sources said the death toll could rise as some of the wounded were in critical condition.

People pick up debris at the site of an explosion in Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq, on July 19, 2021. (Wissam Al-Okaili/Reuters)

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held an urgent meeting with top security commanders to discuss the attack, the premier’s office said in a brief statement.

President Barham Salih posted a tweet saying: “With an awful crime they target civilians in Sadr city on the eve of Eid ... We will not rest before terrorism is cut off by its roots.”

In April, the Sunni Muslim terrorist group ISIS claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on a market in Sadr City, Baghdad’s main Shi'ite Muslim neighborhood, that killed four people and wounded 20.

ISIS also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack last January that killed more than 30 in the crowded Tayaran Square market in central Baghdad—Iraq’s first big suicide bombing for three years.

Large bomb attacks were once an almost daily occurrence in the Iraqi capital but have dwindled since an ISIS invasion of northern and western Iraq was defeated in 2017.

By Baghdad newsroom and Alaa Swilam and Nayera Abdallah