Casualty numbers in Baghdad suicide bombing rise to 30 dead, over 50 wounded

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi officials announced Tuesday that casualty numbers for a bombing the night before in the eastern Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood on Monday had risen to 30 killed and "more than 50 wounded."

Read More: At least 30 people killed and wounded in market explosion in Baghdad's Sadr City: Sources

The military press office known as the Iraqi Security Media Cell also said in a statement that, after receiving investigation reports of explosives and forensic experts' examinations of the crime scene, it had concluded that the explosion "was caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest."

"The intelligence services began collecting accurate information to follow up on the criminal terrorists that carried out this terrorist act to bring them to justice and they will be held accountable."

A security source explained to Kurdistan 24 that the rising death toll was due to the fact that some of those who had been initially wounded had later died in hospitals, a common occurrence after such major bombings.

Earlier on Tuesday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the act. On its official Telegram channel, it claimed that a man identified as Abu Hamza al-Iraqi blew himself up in the busy market the night before as people were shopping on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The deadly incident was roundly condemned, including by officials of the autonomous Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, who called it “a sobering reminder of the continued threat terrorism poses to all of Iraq and its peoples, and the need for closer coordination,” between federal and regional security forces.

Bustling markets in Baghdad's sprawling, Shia-majority Sadr City have been a frequent target for terrorist attacks since the 2003 fall of the former Iraqi regime. In addition to Monday’s blast, local markets have witnessed three other major bombings since ISIS' territorial defeat in Iraq.

Editing by John J. Catherine