Death Toll Rises to More Than 160 in Iraq Ramadan Bombing
The attack occurred during the religious holiday, when ISIS called for violence.
— -- An ISIS suicide attack that took place on Sunday in Iraq is one of the deadliest bombings since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. The death toll has climbed to more than 160 people.
The bloodshed occurred in a mostly Shiite district in Baghdad, on the heels of ISIS-inspired attacks in Turkey and Bangladesh last week, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- a time in which ISIS has urged its followers to bring pain to "infidels everywhere."
At least 165 have been killed, and well over one hundred wounded in the attack, which targeted the Karada district that typically bustles with activity during Iftar, an evening meal when many break their Ramadan fast.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures in Baghdad in response to the bombing, and three days of mourning were declared.
The U.S. State Department released a statement condemning the attack.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attacks carried out by Da'esh in shopping districts in Baghdad today. Nearly one hundred people in total, many women and children, were killed as they broke fast for the holy month of Ramadan," the statement said.
Last June, the terror group also used Ramadan as call to kill. An ISIS-inspired gunman killed 39 people at a beach resort in Tunisia, a bombing in Kuwait killed 27, and hundred of civilians were slaughtered in a massacre that took place in the Kurdish-held city of Kobani.
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