BAGHDAD — In the deadliest violence in Baghdad this year, three car bombs claimed by the Islamic State group killed 93 people across the Iraqi capital Wednesday, demonstrating the extremists’ ability to mount significant attacks despite major battlefield losses.
The separate bombings, which also wounded 165 people, came at a time of turmoil and deadlock in Iraq’s government. The Interior Ministry blamed the attacks on “political bickering” that is increasingly threatening the security of the civilian population.
The largest car bomb ripped through a crowded outdoor market selling food, clothing and household goods in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City during the morning, killing at least 63 people and wounding 85.
Streets were stained with blood, building facades were heavily damaged and smoke billowed from stores gutted by the blast. Dozens of people walked through mangled wreckage of cars and other debris as ambulances ferried away the injured.
The bomb was in a pickup truck loaded with fruit and vegetables. It was parked by a man who quickly disappeared into the crowd, said Karim Salih, a 45-year-old grocer who escaped injury.
“It was such a thunderous explosion that jolted the ground,” Salih said. “The force of the explosion threw me for meters away and I lost consciousness for a few minutes.”
The sprawling slum of Sadr City is home to 2.5 million people — almost half of Baghdad’s population of about 6 million.
Two more car bombs exploded elsewhere in the afternoon, killing at least 30 and wounded 80, police officials said. One bomb targeted a police station in the northwestern Kadhimiyah neighborhood, while another struck in the northern neighborhood of Jamiya.
The casualty figures were released by medical officials who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
In online statements, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombings, which were condemned by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, as well as the United States.
The Islamic State group said it had targeted Shiite militiamen, but hospital and security officials said the majority of the victims were civilians. The AP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the Islamic State claims, but they appeared on a website commonly used by the Sunni extremists.
“These attacks demonstrate that terrorists carry out these abominable attacks without regard to innocent civilian life in order to stoke tensions between these communities even further,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
Earnest said al-Abadi has tried to unite Iraq against the threat.
“He has worked hard across sectarian lines to build diverse support for his government and for the effort to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL,” he said, using an acronym for the extremist group. “And that’s why the United States has found Prime Minister Abadi and the Iraqi central government to be effective partners, and it’s why we continue to stand with them as they confront this serious threat.”
The militant group, which swept across Syria and northern and western Iraq in 2014, has been pushed back by government forces and U.S.-led airstrikes over the past year, losing more than 40 percent of the territory it held.
ISIL extremists still control significant areas in northern and western Iraq, including the second-largest city of Mosul.
Commercial and public places in Shiite neighborhoods are among the most frequent targets for Islamic State militants who want to undermine government efforts to maintain security in the capital.
