Iraq suicide bombing claimed by ISIL kills nearly 30 on eve of Eid holiday

ISIL claimed responsibility early on July 20 for a suicide bombing that ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital ahead of Eid holiday celebrations, killing nearly 30 people, according to medical sources.

In a message posted to its Telegram channel, the militant group said a suicide bomber named Abu Hamza al-Iraqi detonated his explosive belt in the middle of a crowd in Sadr City, an eastern Baghdad suburb on Monday night, killing more than 30 and wounding 35 others.

In one of the worst attacks in Baghdad in recent years, body parts of victims lay scattered across the previously bustling market that had been crowded with shoppers buying food ahead of the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha, according to an AFP photographer.

Some 50 people were also wounded in the blast, medics said.

Iraqi President Barham Salih called the bombing in the densely populated majority-Shiite suburb of Sadr City a "heinous crime" and offered his condolences.

"They are targeting our civilians in Sadr City on the eve of Eid," Salih said in a message on Twitter. "They do not allow people to rejoice, even for a moment."

Eight women and seven children were among the dead, according to a medical sources, who said the toll lay between 28 and 30 killed.

In an early Tuesday statement, children's agency UNICEF confirmed that children were killed and injured in the attack.
"This horrific attack right before Eid Al-Adha is a terrible reminder of the violence Iraqi children continue to face," it said.

Video footage shared on social media after the blast showed bloodied victims and people screaming in terror. The blast was so strong it ripped the roofs off some market stalls.

"A terror attack using a locally made IED ...