Isis claims responsibility for Baghdad car bombing as 120 die on single day

Terror group says it targeted Shia Muslims breaking
Ramadan fast in suburb of Karada

Martin Chulov
Sunday 3 July 2016 10.27 BST

Days after fleeing its stronghold of Falluja, Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on a shopping district in central Baghdad which killed at least 115 people, and again exposed the frailty of security efforts to protect Iraqi citizens.

A second bombing took the toll to at least 120, surpassing the most deadly day in the capital so far this year, and rivalling other mass death counts throughout the 12-year insurgency.

Isis said it had deliberately targeted Shia Muslims by striking the suburb of Karada, on the southern bank of the Tigris river.

It struck as families and young people were out on the streets after breaking their daylight fast for the holy month of Ramadan late on Saturday evening. Firefighters were still working to extinguish the blazes and bodies were still being recovered from charred buildings as dawn broke on Sunday.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]