As Saturday came to a close, thousands of people left their homes and headed to the city of Baghdad to break their fast for the holy month of Ramadam.
In the shopping district of Karrada it was rife people who were simply just looking to spend time with one another – just as it is every Saturday – but as the hours wore on, a refrigerated vehicle packed full of explosives exploded, killing at least 125 people and injuring 150 others.
This video depicts the moment just seconds after the car bomb had exploded, according to the Mirror, as people who had headed out into the capital on one of the last nights of Ramadam, were sent into a frenzy of panic and hysteria – a state their country sadly knows only too well.
In the video you can see the horrifying scenes for yourself as innocent Iraqi citizens sprint away from the rubble and the chaos, while others run into it desperately searching for loved ones and relatives lost somewhere in the fire and the smoke.
Not too long afterwards a second car bomb exploded in the north of Baghdad killing an additional five people.
The so called Islamic State later claimed responsibility for both attacks.
The apparent Islamic State has recently lost a lot of ground after increasing attacks from the U.S. in Fallujah, however many experts are claiming that the attacks witnessed last night in Iraq demonstrate the power of ISIS.
As Jeremy Bowen writes:
The destruction and death adds up to a clear message from the jihadists of so-called Islamic State. They are saying that even if they are defeated on the battlefield, they can still hit back where it really hurts – killing civilians in the centre of the Iraqi capital, and other capital cities, too.
Our thoughts go out to the people of Baghdad at this sad and painful time for their city.
