Two synchronized suicide bombings took place today (Thursday) in a crowded market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. 32 people were killed and another 110 were injured. State media reported that at least 12 other people were fatally injured.
State security forces reportedly chased the two suicide bombers before they blew themselves up. This is the first suicide bombing in the country in at least two years. According to local media testimonies, the first terrorist entered the market compound and claimed to have been injured, causing a crowd of passers-by to gather around him.
After noticing that quite a few people had gathered around him, the terrorist detonated the explosive belt that was tied to his body. A few minutes later, another suicide bomber, riding a motorcycle, entered the market compound and blew himself up at another gathering point.
No terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the atrocity, but the sophistication and cruelty of the attack is reminiscent of the suicide bombings carried out by ISIS terrorists in the period leading up to the terrorist organization’s takeover of parts of Iraq and Syria.
Now that the terrorist organization has been defeated in all parts of Iraq, the authorities in Baghdad fear a renewed wave of terrorist attacks that the organization will launch, in an attempt to undermine the government and inter-ethnic relations in the country. Iraq has enjoyed two years of relative stability since the defeat of ISIS, but Iranian intervention in the country and the proliferation of its armed groups are causing severe tensions between the Sunni and Shiite populations.