Friends and family of people who were killed in the Karrada district of Baghdad have been mourning the loss of their loved ones, while rescue teams continue to search for survivors. The bombing, which hit the busy commercial area of the Iraqi capital, was claimed by the Islamic State (Isis/Daesh). It has led to the deaths of 150 people – with the toll expected to rise, according to police and health officials. Some 35 people are still missing, and roughly 200 were injured.
The numbers of those killed by the attack rose as bodies were recovered from the rubble, after a lorry packed with explosives blew up on 2 July while people were out celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. A second bomb was then detonated in the popular market of al-Shaab, a Shia district in north Baghdad, killing two people.
A fireman walks in a burnt-out building after a suicide bomb attack at the shopping area of Karrada, BaghdadAhmed Saad/ Reuters
The bombing comes after government forces reclaimed the city of Fallujah, close to Baghdad, which was an Islamic State stronghold, and has been described as the deadliest terror attack Iraq has seen in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency.
The interior of a burnt building after a suicide bomb attack at the shopping area of KarradaAhmed Saad/ ReutersFiremen search for charred bodies after a suicide bomb attack at the shopping district of Karrada, BaghdadAhmed Saad/ ReutersMen carry the body of a victim in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFP
Iraqi President Haider al-Abadi arrived in Karrada, which is largely a Shia district, with a small Christian community and a few Sunni mosques, hours after the attack. Abadi drove through Karrada, the district where he grew up, to be greeted by angry civilians.
Shouting "thief" the furious mob surrounded his car, throwing stones, buckets, and even slippers, as they expressed their frustration with the political system and the failure of Iraqi security.
People react at the site of a bombing attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPGeneral view of the damage caused by the attackAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPIraqis search for bodies of victims inside a building damaged by a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPPeople move a body from the site of a suicide bombing in Baghdad's central Karrada districtSabah Arar/ AFP
In a statement made on 3 July, al-Abadi ordered the withdrawal of fake "magic wand" bomb detectors, which police have continued to use despite a 2011 scandal when they were sold to Iraq by a British businessman. Along with removing the fake bomb detectors, al-Abadi also ordered that X-ray systems be installed at the entrances of provinces. He also demanded the upgrades of the capital's security belt, increased aerial scanning and stepped-up intelligence efforts.
Women at the site after a suicide bomb attack at the shopping area of KarradaAhmed Saad/ ReutersA man searches for bodies of victims inside a building damaged by a suicide bomb attackAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPPeople gather at the site after a suicide bomb attack at the shopping area of Karrada, BaghdadAhmed Saad/ ReutersA fireman hoses down a building after a suicide bomb attack at the shopping area of Karrada in BaghdadAhmed Saad/ ReutersA man stands in a building that was destroyed in a suicide bomb attackAhmed Saad/ ReutersWomen visit the scene of a suicide bombing in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmed Saad/ ReutersA forensic police officer inspects a building which was damaged by a suicide bomb attackAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPA woman walks past the site of a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPMen search for bodies of victims inside a building damaged by a suicide bomb attack which took place a day earlier in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPWorkers remove electricity cables from around a buildingAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPMen carry the body of a victim in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPA policeman searches for bodies of victims inside the building which was damaged by a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPMen carry the body of a victim, who died in the suicide bomb attackAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPMen offload a body from the roof of a van during a funeral procession for the victims of a suicide bomb which hit Baghdad's busy shopping district of KarradaHaidar Hamani/ AFPA policeman patrols the area of a building damaged by a suicide bomb attackAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFPPeople gather around a building damaged by a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhoodAhmad al-Rubaye/ AFP
