In such a climate, not everyone was pointing the finger at Isis. The attack came as Iraqis prepare for an election, events often preceded by bombings and assassinations. There were no ambulances, just the police firing in the air.” After the blasts, he said, “we started ferrying the injured and dead to Tayran Square and put them in cars. I ran out and I heard the second explosion, and I saw people scattered around, lying in the middle of the street, like slaughtered sheep.”Ī video shot from a nearby building showed a crowd of people milling around before a red and orange ball of fire erupted from the second explosion, followed by a thick cloud of dust, scattering bodies on the ground and sending people running for cover.Īnother young man, pushing a wooden cart smeared with blood, said the first bomber had fallen on the ground and called for help. This is the blood of the martyrs, the blood of innocent and poor people,” he shouted.Ī young man dressed in a green tracksuit, who did not want to give him name out of fear of reprisal, said: “I was in bed when the explosion took place and I was lifted up and down by the force of the explosion. One man, who gave his name as Ayad, tugged at the sleeves of two grey sweaters that hung from a stall, showing the crowd gathering in front of him the splatter of dark crimson stains. Such scenes, reminiscent of the worst atrocities of al-Qaida and later Isis, had been absent from the streets of Baghdad since the defeat of Isis. A man walked around picking up charred pieces of flesh and putting them in a plastic bag, as a faint acrid smell hung in the air. A large pile of children’s shoes had tumbled to the ground from a push cart. The Guardian visited the scene of devastation after the blast and saw scattered clothes smeared in dirt and blood, including a white winter jacket, blue sweaters and a pink children’s coat. Though its leadership and rank and file have been decimated, it retains the capacity to launch small but devastating attacks. Isis has been attempting to reorganise in Iraq’s western deserts and near its eastern border. The attack was claimed by the terror group Isis, whose remnants have melted back into towns and cities after its defeat in Iraq and Syria in early 2019. “The second suicide bomber blew himself up when people gathered to move the wounded from the first explosion,” the ministry said. The interior ministry said the first bomber claimed he was ill and then detonated his device when a crowd gathered to help him.
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