Iraq violence: 119 people die in car bomb attacks in Baghdad

In a tweet, ISIS claimed responsibility of the attack and said it is targeting Shiite neighbourhoods

Two suicide car bomb attacks at two crowded commercial areas in the Iraqi capital early on Sunday killed at least 119 people and wounded more than 130 others, officials said. Police said that the first explosion occurred in a busy commercial street in the central neighborhood of Karrada.

Those injured and trapped in the adjacent buildings were rescued by the fire-fighting crews.

The second explosion took place in an outdoor market in the Shaab neighbourhood of south-eastern Baghdad, killing one and wounding five.

ISIS in a statement posted on Twitter claimed responsibility for the Karrada attack and said that the group is targeting Shiite neighbourhoods.

 

And both Karrada and Shaab are predominately Shiite.

In a similar incident, in May this year, a series of car bombs killed scores of people in Baghdad with ISIS claiming responsibility for many of those bombings.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited Karrada on Sunday morning and vowed to punish the terrorists.