ISIS/ISIL bombing kills 125 Ramadan shoppers in Baghdad

At least 125 people have been killed and about 150 injured in an explosion claimed by the so-called Islamic State group in Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

A car bomb exploded on a busy street in the Karrada district late on Saturday.

The mainly Shia area was busy with shoppers late at night because it is the holy month of Ramadan.

Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi was met by angry crowds while visiting the scene on Sunday. He later declared three days of national mourning.

A second bomb also exploded at about midnight in a predominantly Shia area north of the capital, killing another five people.

The bombing in Karrada is the deadliest in Iraq this year and comes a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured the city of Falluja from Islamic State (IS) militants.

Police said the dead included at least 15 children and six policemen. At least 12 other people were missing, feared dead.

One senior Iraqi official warned that the death toll could rise still further.

The US said on Sunday that the latest attack strengthened its resolve to support Iraqi forces in their fight against IS.

"We remain united with the Iraqi people and government in our combined efforts to destroy Isil," the White House statement said, using another term for the group...
 BBC
3/7/16