At Least 25 Killed in Baghdad Bombing, One of Deadliest Attacks Since January

By Mary Ellen Cagnassola On 7/19/21 at 3:10 PM EDT

At least 25 people in a suburb of Baghdad were killed in a roadside bomb attack Monday that wounded dozens more at a nearby market, according to Iraqi security officials.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, Iraq's military said the explosion occurred in the Wahailat market in Sadr City just a day before the Eid al-Adha holiday, a busy time for the market as shoppers search for gifts and groceries.

Vendors' wares were reduced to debris on the ground following the blast. They told security forces how the blast happened while salvaging what items they could.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the area, but no such claim has emerged yet for the market bombing.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, continue below.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing but the Islamic State group has claimed similar attacks in the area before.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi placed the commander of the federal police regiment responsible for the area of the market place under arrest, the military statement said. It also said an investigation was launched.

Market St — Iraqis sit at a coffee shop on a market street in the capital Baghdad, on July 12, 2021. - With Iraq's coronavirus infections averaging around 8000 cases daily, health workers are battling not just the pandemic but also the "general mindset" of scepticism over vaccines borne of mistrust of a hobbled government. Sabah ARAR / AFP/Getty Images

It was the third time this year that a bomb hit a market in the densely populated neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.

In June, 15 people were wounded when a bomb placed under a kiosk in another Sadr City market detonated. In April, at least four people were killed in a car bomb attack in Sadr City. That blast was caused by an explosive device attached to a parked car at the market.

Monday's attack comes two months ahead of federal elections slated for Oct. 10.

Large bomb attacks, once an almost daily occurrence in Baghdad, have slowed in recent years since IS was defeated on the battlefield in 2017.

Attacks persist, however. In January, over 30 people were killed in a twin suicide bombing in a busy commercial area in central Baghdad. It was the deadliest bombing in three years to strike Iraq's capital.