The Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for two massive blasts that tore through a crowd of people at a clothing market in Baghdad on Thursday.
The blasts were detonated by two suicide bombers who were being pursued by Iraqi security forces at the time they blew themselves up. According to the BBC as of yesterday the blast had caused the death of 32 people and injured 110.
This is the biggest suicide attack in Baghdad in 3 years, as the city has recently experienced a period of relative calm. There are often still rocket attacks on the US embassy launched by pro-Iranian militias but these do not often kill anyone.
In a statement published by the ISIS affiliated Amaq News Agency, the group claimed that the attack had been targeted at Shia Muslims who the Sunni ISIS views as apostates.
The attack is an ominous sign that ISIS, which once controlled a large territory across Eastern Syria and North Western Iraq, may be rebuilding after its military defeat at the hands of Western, Syrian and Iraqi troops in 2017.