Bombing on Eid holiday leaves more than 100 dead in Iraq

Iraqi officials on Saturday condemned a suicide car bomb that ripped into a bustling holiday market in an Iraqi town, killing more than 100 people, with one declaring that it carried a note of “disgusting sectarianism.”

The explosion, one of the deadliest recent attacks in the country, occurred late Friday in the Al-Khales area of Khan Bani Saad, a town in Diyala province about 35 miles north of Baghdad. The timing of the detonation caught shoppers out in force for the Eid al-Fitr celebration, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Islamic State claimed responsibility, saying in a statement that the attack had targeted a gathering of Popular Mobilization Units. The predominantly Shiite Muslim militias have been instrumental in the Iraqi government’s efforts to defeat the mainly Sunni Muslim Islamic State, which has seized a large swath of northern and western Iraq.

Pro-Islamic State accounts on Twitter uploaded pictures depicting a scene of chaos, including charred husks of cars and singed buildings in debris-strewn streets.

“We went out to the market for shopping and preparations for the holiday Eid in order to receive holiday cheer,” one resident, who spoke anonymously for fear of retribution, told the Associated Press. “But this joy has turned to grief and we have lost family, friends and relatives, all because of this government’s failure to provide us with security.”

Officials told the news service that 170 people were injured in the bombing.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi on Saturday called the attack an “awful crime” that came as a response to the “victories achieved by [the] heroic armed forces in all sectors.”

“The terrorist gangs will have no place in our country and we will get them,” Abadi said. “They will not escape from punishment and their criminality will only increase our determination to pursue them in the battlefields.”

Other officials were quick to denounce the attack as an attempt to exacerbate sectarian tensions.

Salim Jaboori, speaker of parliament, said the assault was an attempt “to shake the security of Diyala [province] by striking on the [note] of disgusting sectarianism.”

Islamic State views Shiites as “apostates” who are to be killed.

Despite espousing a particularly harsh interpretation of Islamic law in areas under its governance, Islamic State has often found allies in Sunni majority towns due to residents’ fears of the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

Its presence has proved to be particularly resilient in Diyala, a mixed-sect province that forms the northern gateway to Baghdad and where security forces have long battled Sunni insurgents.

Islamic State is the latest incarnation of the Al Qaeda organization that was the nemesis of U.S. forces in particular from 2003 to 2008 during the American-led occupation of Iraq.

As a nod to the precarious security situation, state news declared main roads would be cut off in the run-up to the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Bulos is a special correspondent.