Suicide attack in Baghdad kills at least 27, wounds 64

[January 15, 2018]    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 27 people were killed and 64 wounded in a twin suicide bombing in central Baghdad on Monday, the deadliest attack so far this year in the Iraqi capital, an interior ministry official said.

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq January 15, 2018. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily

Two men detonated explosives vests in Aviation Square, a commercial district and gathering point for day laborers seeking work, scores of whom were killed and injured, according to the official.

Iraq declared victory last month over Islamic State (IS) militants who seized control of nearly a third of the country in 2014. However, IS continues to carry out attacks and bombings in Baghdad and different parts of the country.

The German foreign ministry condemned the devastating attack in Baghdad and expressed its condolences to the families of those killed.

The attack in Aviation Square was one of the deadliest in Baghdad since a massive truck bomb killed at least 324 people in the nearby commercial district of Karrada in July 2016.

The Karrada bombing was the deadliest single attack in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

(Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.