On Monday January 15, 2018, two

suicide bombings A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

took place at al-Tayaran Square of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, killing 36 people and injuring more than 105 others. These attacks were later claimed by the

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

group Islamic State (IS).

Attacks

On Monday January 15, 2018, two suicide bombings took place at al-Tayaran Square of Baghdad, killing 36 people and injuring more than 105 others. The attackers struck during rush hour in the city's Tayran Square, which is usually crowded by laborers seeking work. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but it bore all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which has claimed many such attacks in the past.

Responsibility claim

Two days later (on Wednesday January 17, 2018) the

group Islamic State (IS) "claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings in Baghdad this week", though the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' suggested that the delay, and a number of errors in the claim, may show that the group's "media apparatus has been disrupted". According to the ''New York Times'', which relied on a translation of the IS statement provided by

SITE Intelligence Group SITE Intelligence Group is an American for-profit consultancy group that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organizations. It is led by the Israeli analyst Rita Katz and based in Bethesda, Maryland. From 2002 to 2008, Katz h ...

, the IS claim's errors included that the attack "had occurred at Aden Square in Baghdad, where the police said an attack was foiled on Saturday, rather than in Tayaran Square, where Monday’s explosions took place", and that IS "said that there were three attackers, not two ... and said that the first two detonated their explosive vests in quick succession, while the third hit another gathering in the same area sometime after the first two explosions". IS referred to "the open-air market that was attacked as a gathering of ' rafidha' and of '

polytheists Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...

', two words they use to refer to

Shiite Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Muslims in a

derogatory A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility ...

manner".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baghdad bombings 2018 murders in Iraq Suicide bombings in 2018 Bombings in the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present) 2018 in Baghdad Islamic terrorist incidents in 2018 January 2018 crimes in Asia Mass murder in 2018 Suicide car and truck bombings in Baghdad January 2018 in Iraq 2018-01 Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2018 21st-century mass murder in Baghdad ISIL terrorist incidents in Baghdad