ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The families of the Baghdad bombing victims did not celebrate Eid Mubarak, but rather spent the holiday mourning the death of their loved ones and visiting the site of the bombing.
"I am one of those who shared Eid congratulations with my husband, daughter, and sisters, but my thoughts are with the ones lost their lives in the Karrada catastrophe," a housewife among the crowd at the bomb site in the Karrada neighbourhood told Rudaw.
"What are the crimes our youth have committed?! Why should they be buried? What is our crime when we have chosen a government that has no virtue," cried a woman in the crowd.
A suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden pickup truck outside a busy shopping centre shortly after midnight on Sunday. Many families were on the streets after breaking their Ramadan fast.
The site of the bombing has been covered with black banners identifying the 250 victims.
Many grieving for their family members fainted on seeing the devastation at the site, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the bombing.
An elderly man who lost two sons was crying out with his full voice, saying "We are from the Imam Hussein's group." Imam Hussein is an important historical figure in Islam; he is a descendent of the Prophet Muhammed and was a key Shia cleric.
"ISIS is incomplete and has no religion,” the elderly man lamented. “We have the religion and our guiders are Muhammed and Ali, the son of Abu Talib.”
A military army commander wanted to visit the mourners but was evicted from the site after people in the crowd threw shoes at him.
The suicide bombing in central Baghdad is the deadliest attack in Iraq this year and one of the deadliest since the 2003 US-led invasion, with the death toll reaching 250, according to the health ministry.
The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood.
A Shiite leader demanded the government approve executing terrorists at the site in Karrada, in a bid to console the families of the victims.
"We ask for fair punishments at the site of the bombing. This will be a clear and vivid answer to the terrorists – the blood of Iraqis will not be wasted," said Ali Alaq, leader of the Shiite State of Law coalition in the Iraqi parliament.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, visiting the site of the bombing on Sunday, was met by an angry mob throwing stones at his vehicle convoy, calling him a thief. Though he vowed “punishment” for the perpetrators, bystanders cursed him and his government who they blame for not preventing the carnage on Iraq’s streets that is repeated all too often.
"I am one of those who shared Eid congratulations with my husband, daughter, and sisters, but my thoughts are with the ones lost their lives in the Karrada catastrophe," a housewife among the crowd at the bomb site in the Karrada neighbourhood told Rudaw.
"What are the crimes our youth have committed?! Why should they be buried? What is our crime when we have chosen a government that has no virtue," cried a woman in the crowd.
A suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden pickup truck outside a busy shopping centre shortly after midnight on Sunday. Many families were on the streets after breaking their Ramadan fast.
The site of the bombing has been covered with black banners identifying the 250 victims.
Many grieving for their family members fainted on seeing the devastation at the site, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the bombing.
An elderly man who lost two sons was crying out with his full voice, saying "We are from the Imam Hussein's group." Imam Hussein is an important historical figure in Islam; he is a descendent of the Prophet Muhammed and was a key Shia cleric.
"ISIS is incomplete and has no religion,” the elderly man lamented. “We have the religion and our guiders are Muhammed and Ali, the son of Abu Talib.”
A military army commander wanted to visit the mourners but was evicted from the site after people in the crowd threw shoes at him.
The suicide bombing in central Baghdad is the deadliest attack in Iraq this year and one of the deadliest since the 2003 US-led invasion, with the death toll reaching 250, according to the health ministry.
The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood.
A Shiite leader demanded the government approve executing terrorists at the site in Karrada, in a bid to console the families of the victims.
"We ask for fair punishments at the site of the bombing. This will be a clear and vivid answer to the terrorists – the blood of Iraqis will not be wasted," said Ali Alaq, leader of the Shiite State of Law coalition in the Iraqi parliament.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, visiting the site of the bombing on Sunday, was met by an angry mob throwing stones at his vehicle convoy, calling him a thief. Though he vowed “punishment” for the perpetrators, bystanders cursed him and his government who they blame for not preventing the carnage on Iraq’s streets that is repeated all too often.
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