Death toll from dawn blasts in Iraq capital jumps to 83

The death toll from two bombings in a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad at dawn Sunday jumps to 83, Iraqi security and health officials say.

They said 78 people were killed and at least 200 others wounded when a car bomb went off at a busy commercial street in Baghdad’s Shia neighborhood of Karrada.

Footage posted on social media showed a large blaze in the main street of Karrada.

The second explosion occurred at an outdoor market in the Shaab neighborhood of southeastern Baghdad, leaving five dead and wounding five others.

In a twitter post, the Daesh terror group claimed responsibility for the attacks which, it said, were aimed at Shia neighborhoods.
Iraqi firefighters carry the body of a victim from a building damaged in a car bomb at a commercial area in Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad July 3, 2016. ©AP

Having suffered heavy losses on the battlefield against Iraqi soldiers, Daesh has recently stepped up its terror attacks across Baghdad, particularly the neighborhoods populated by Shia Muslims.

Baghdad was the scene of back-to-back bombings claimed by Daesh in May, when nearly 200 people lost their lives in and near the city in just a week.

According to new UN figures, acts of violence in Iraq left a total of 662 people dead and 1,457 others injured in June.

In Baghdad, which was among the hardest-hit areas, some 236 civilians were killed and 742 others wounded.