ISIS bomb blasts leave 70 killed, over 100 wounded in Iraq

At least 70 people have been killed and over 100 others wounded in two bomb blasts in a Shi’ite district of Baghdad on Sunday.

According to reports, a bomb exploded in a market area in Sadr city and as people congregated to witness the devastation a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle struck again amid the crowd. These were the deadliest bombings in Baghdad so far this year.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sad Main said the bombings killed 38 people but multiple hospital officials requesting anonymity later said that the death toll reached to 70.

The terrorist group of the Islamic State (IS) that has waged a bloody war and operates mostly in Iraq and Syria claimed responsibility for the bombings in an online statement.

“Our swords will not cease to cut off the heads of the rejectionist polytheists, wherever they are,” the statement threatened.

Militants on Sunday also launched a multi-pronged assault including gunmen and suicide bombers in the suburbs of Baghdad, killing at least 17 security force members in Abu Ghraib and capturing nearby positions during a battle that began at dawn and lasted into the evening hours.

Iraqi officials said ISIS was also responsible for those attacks.