Death toll in IS-claimed Baghdad twin suicide bombing rises to 70

BAGHDAD:Islamic State claimed responsibility for suicide bombings that killed at least 70 people and wounded over 100 others on Sunday in Baghdad’s Sadr City district.

Two police sources said the assailants were suicide bombers riding motorcycles through a crowded mobile phone market.They said police had sealed off the area to prevent further attacks.

A Reuters witness saw pools of blood on the ground with slippers, shoes and mobile phones at the site of the blast, which was sealed off to prevent further attacks.

In a statement circulated online, Islamic State said two suicide bombers had carried out the attack, killing and wounding "hundreds of polytheist rejectionists", as the militant group refers to Shia Muslims.

Baghdad-based security analyst Jasim al-Bahadli said Sunday´s attacks suggested it was premature to declare that Islamic State was losing the initiative in Iraq.

"Government forces must do a better job repelling attacks launched by Daesh. What happened today could be a setback for the security forces," he said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

COUNTER OFFENSIVE

In Abu Ghraib, a curfew was imposed as a regiment of Iraq´s elite counter-terrorism forces was mobilised to retake the silo and prevent the militants approaching the nearby airport, security officials said.

Army and police sources said the militants had attacked from the nearby Islamic State-controlled areas of Garma and Falluja, driving Humvees and pickup trucks fixed with machine guns.

The Amaq news agency said Iraqi forces had been forced to retreat from several locations. But the Iraqi security sources said the militants had been pushed out of a police station and several army positions and had dug in at the cemetery and the silo, part of which was set on fire.

Iraqi army helicopters began bombarding Islamic State positions in the silo and the cemetery, a military statement said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said at least 20 militants had been killed so far in the government´s counter offensive.