The aftermath of an explosion in the Karrada district of Iraq's capital of Baghdad on Tuesday shortly after midnight.
12:30 p.m.
Explosion near bridge kills seven, injures 30
Rudaw's Bahman Hassan reported that main roads inside Baghdad have been closed, as local authorities work to secure the Iraqi capital against more possible attacks by "infiltrators."
Hassan says he has been told at least seven people were killed and another 30 were injured in the attack by the bridge.
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9:40 a.m.
Second explosion at Martyr's bridge
A second explosion in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday morning targeted a public office near Shuhada (Martyr's) Bridge in central Baghdad around 9 a.m.
Rudaw correspondent Bahman Hassan said the target was a public pension office. He added that the explosion is believed to have been triggered by a suicide attacker in a bomb-laden vehicle.
Official causality figures or estimates have not been released.
The bridge spans the Tigris and connects the western Karkh neighborhood, where the Green Zone is located, with the eastern Rusafa neighborhood.
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8:40 a.m. (updated)
Explosion hits Karrada district in Baghdad just after midnight: 13 killed, 24 wounded
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A car bomb exploded near an ice cream shop in Baghdad's Karrada district packed with families. The Ramadan blast in the Iraqi capital has killed at least 13 people and wounded 24.
The latest causality figures were reported by The Associated Press citing hospital and police sources.
The attack occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, just days into the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast during the long, hot daytime hours and often hit the streets to cool off.
Rudaw's Bahman Hassan reported from nearby the scene, where images of torn clothes, shoes, and destroyed cars could be seen. Bahman said 47 people could be injured and forensic teams have been on the scene.
Closed circuit television coverage (CCTV) shows an explosion on the narrow street in what is a predominately Shiite neighborhood.
ISIS-affiliated media said the attack was meant to target "a gathering of Shiite."
Brett McGurk, the US special presidential envoy to the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition, condemned the attack.
"ISIS terrorists tonight in Baghdad target children and families enjoying time together at an ice cream shop. We stand with Iraq against this evil," McGurk wrote on Twitter, using another word for ISIS
As ISIS extremists are pushed out of the remaining districts in western Mosul, Iraqi officials have expressed concern that attacks will spread across the country.
A lieutenant colonel and two traffic police officers were among those killed in an explosion in Karrada on April 28. In total four people were known to have been killed, and five injured.
Karrada was the site of deadliest attack in Iraq since statistics became reported in 2003, when on July 3, 2016, an ISIS-claimed attack killed 324 people, according to the health ministry.
The aftermath of Tuesday's explosion. Photos: Rudaw
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