The Islamic
State group has taken the responsibility for a suicide bombing in a busy
Baghdad market that killed nearly 30 people just days ahead of Eid holiday
celebrations.

The militant group identified the suicide bomber as Abu Hamza al-Iraqi and said
that he detonated his explosive belt in the middle of a crowd in Sadr City, an
eastern Baghdad suburb on Monday night, in a message posted on the group’s Telegram
channel. The attack killed more than 30 and wounded 35 others.

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. They do not allow
people to rejoice, even for a moment,” Salih tweeted.

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

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 (improvised explosive device) in
Woheilat Market in Sadr City, in east Baghdad, left several victims dead and
others injured,” Iraq’s interior ministry said in a statement.

Baghdad
Operations Command, a joint military, and interior ministry security body, said
it had launched an investigation into the blast, and police and forensic teams
late Monday were searching through the smoking wreckage for clues.

Prime
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi convened an emergency meeting with his heads of
military and security agencies.

Iraq
declared IS defeated at the end of 2017 after a fierce three-year campaign.

Yet the
group’s sleeper cells have continued to operate in desert and mountain areas,
typically targeting security forces or state infrastructure with low casualty
attacks.

The US-led
coalition that had been supporting Iraq’s campaign against IS has significantly
drawn down its troop levels over the past year, citing the increased
capabilities of Iraqi forces.

The United
States, which provides the bulk of the force, has 2,500 troops left in Iraq —
down from 5,200 a year ago.

They are
mainly in charge of training, providing drone surveillance and carrying out air
strikes while Iraqi security forces handle security in urban areas.