MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-BLAST UPDATE Islamic State claims suicide car bomb that kills more than 100

Record ID: 149188

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/IRAQ-BLAST UPDATE Islamic State claims suicide car bomb that kills more than 100
  • Date: 18th July 2015
  • Summary: KHAN BANI SAAD, IRAQ (JULY 18, 2015) (AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERED BY DEBRIS, RUBBLE AND DAMAGED CARS CAUSED BY BLAST TRACTOR TOWING BURNT OUT CAR FROM BLAST SCENE DAMAGED CARS/PEOPLE WALKING PAST DAMAGED MARKET STALLS VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM RUBBLE VARIOUS OF DEBRIS FROM MARKET STALLS CROWD GATHERED IN STREET CROWD GATHERED BY CRATER LEFT BY BLAST VARIOUS
  • Embargoed: 2nd August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3QPY0GY7HV8GDNTO06VKR6M2M
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Islamic State militants claimed an attack in which more than 100 people were killed in a suicide car bombing in the busy market town of Khan Bani Saad in Iraq on Friday (July 17).
    Residents continued to search for victims of the blast on Saturday (July 18) as wreckage was cleared from the road.
    The blast brought down several buildings in Khan Bani Saad, about 30 km (20 miles) northeast of Baghdad, crushing to death people who were celebrating the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, police and medics said.
    Debris and rubble from the blast was strewn across the road on Saturday, and burnt out cars were towed from the scene.
    Local Sayif Ali said many people were still missing after the blast.
    "Khan Bani Saad has become a disaster area as you can see because of a huge explosion. Terrorists? ISIS? We don't know. How did this car enter? All these people are dead. The buildings are burned. See the streets. This is the first day of Eid, hundreds of people were killed, many injured, and there are still people we cannot find," said Ali.
    Islamic State, which controls large parts of northern and western Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack in the mixed eastern province of Diyala where Khan Bani Saad is located and said the target was "rejectionists", as the group refers to Shi'ite Muslims.
    Angry crowds went on the rampage after the explosion, smashing the windows of cars parked in the street in grief and anger. Body parts were flung onto the roofs of nearby buildings by the force of the blast, police said.
    An officer from the Diyala police command said on Friday that rescue crews were still retrieving bodies from under the debris so the death toll could rise.
    The Diyala provincial government declared three days' mourning and ordered all parks and entertainment places to close for the rest of the Eid al-Fitr holiday to pre-empt any further attacks.
    Islamic State said in a statement issued on Twitter that the attack was to avenge the killing of Sunni Muslims in the northern Iraqi town of Hawija, and that the suicide car bomber was carrying around three tonnes of explosives.
    Iraqi officials declared victory over Islamic State in Diyala earlier this year after security forces and Shi'ite paramilitaries drove them out of towns and villages there, but the insurgents remain active in the province.
    The United Nations said earlier this week that nearly 15,000 people had been killed in the 16-month period up to April 30.
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