Baghdad: At least 30 people were killed and over 50 injured in a bomb blast at a busy market in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Monday, the eve of the Eid al-Adha festival, according to AFP. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that ripped many lives.
The device exploded in a market, in the northern Sadr City area, as families prepared for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha on Tuesday.
It was the deadliest bombing in Baghdad in six months.
Security sources told Reuters news agency that women and children were among those killed in Monday's attack on the al-Wuhailat market. Some shops were set on fire, they said.
In a message posted to its Telegram channel, the 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 people.
Iraq President called the bombing 'heinous crime'
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 medical sources, who said the toll lay between 28 and 30 killed, as per AFP.
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.
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has ordered the resignation of the district's head of security following the deadly blast.