Baghdad (TIP): Twin suicide blasts ripped through a busy market in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 32 persons and wounding over 110, officials said. The rare suicide attack hit the Bab al-Sharqi commercial area in central Baghdad amid heightened political tensions over planned early elections and a severe economic crisis. Iraq‘s Health Minister Hassan Mohammed al-Tamimi said some of the wounded were in a serious condition. Maj Gen Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, said, “This is a terrorist act perpetrated by a sleeper cell of the Islamic State.

The IS wants to prove its existence after suffering many blows in military operations.” The suicide bombings were the first in three years to target Baghdad’s bustling commercial area. A suicide bomb attack took place in the same area in 2018 shortly after then-PM Haidar al-Abadi declared victory over the IS. — AP