Two killed in Baghdad suicide bombings hours after Iraqi capital's bloodiest day this year

Two members of the Iraqi security services have been killed in a twin suicide bomb attack in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib. The blasts follow one day after the worst violence seen in the Iraqi capital in 2016 as90 were killed in multiple blasts across city.

Reuters reported that two suicide bombers attacked a police station in Abu Ghraib, 15 miles west of Baghdad, approaching the building from different directions. Security officials said a third assailant was killed before any of the attackers, who wore suicide vests, were able to enter the police station. Eight other individuals were wounded in the blasts.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the bombings bear all the hallmarks of an Islamic State (Isis/Daesh) attack. The militant group claimed responsibility for four bomb attacks in Baghdad on 11 May, which left at least 90 dead, a day of carnage which surpassed IS bombings on 29 February, in which more than 80 were killed.

The number of casualties continued to climb overnight. At least 63 people were killed in the majority Shia area of the Sadr city (a district of Baghdad). IS, a Sunni group which has seen its territory and influence shrink in Iraq, has sought to exacerbate the country's sectarian divide by targeting Shia areas.

The IS onslaught has placed further pressure on embattled Iraqi president Haider al-Abadi who has faced widespread protest from the country's Shia majority.

On 1 May, protesters from the Iraq's largest Muslim denomination stormed Baghdad's green zone, breaking into the country's national parliament. The demonstrators aligned with powerful Shia Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were protesting delays over the ratification of a new Iraqi cabinet.

Al-Sadr, who rose to prominence during the US invasion of Iraq, has called on his followers to put pressure on the government over issues of corruption.