Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a car bomb that killed at least 13 people and wounded about 30 in the early hours of Tuesday in a commercial street of central Baghdad, according to security sources.
The bombing targeted the Karrada district, which was hit by a massive truck bomb in July 2016 that killed at least 324 people, the deadliest attack in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003.
The 2016 blast was also claimed by Daesh.
Both bombings happened during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which people stay up late and many eat out to prepare for the fast the next day.
Daesh's Amaq news agency claimed Tuesday's attack in Karrada, a mainly Shi'ite Muslim district.
Videos posted to social media showed chaotic scenes on the streets surrounding the blast. A number of wounded lay on the ground, others propped themselves up on the colorful park benches outside the ice cream shop. One young girl, wearing a ribbon and bow in her hair, wandered the scene dazed.
The terrorist group has been retreating in Iraq since the end of 2015 in the face of U.S.-backed government forces and Iranian-backed paramilitary groups.
Tuesday's attack comes as Iraqi troops are slowing pushing Daesh terrorists out of their last strongholds in the northern city of Mosul. Iraqi commanders say the offensive, which recently entered its eighth month, will mark the end of Daesh in Iraq, but concede the group will likely increase insurgent attacks in the wake of military defeats.
