Terrifying moment teenage ISIS suicide bomber blows himself up at a FOOTBALL STADIUM near Baghdad, killing at least 65 people and injuring more than 60
- A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd after a local football game
- At least 65 people have been killed and dozens injured near Baghdad
- Bomber detonated his explosives just as the medals were being awarded
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A teenage ISIS suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd after a local football game in a village south of Baghdad, killing at least 65 people, police and medics said.
'They were just handing the trophy to the winners, the suicide attacker blew himself up in the crowd,' a police captain from the village, Al-Asriya, told AFP.
The police captain said more than 50 people were also wounded in the blast, near Iskandariyah, a town about 25 miles south of the capital.
ISIS have claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing a photo of the young bomber, named only as Saifullah al-Ansari.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
People inspect the aftermath of a suicide bombing at a football field in Iskandariyah, which is 25 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq
Iskandariyah is part of a mixed Sunni-Shiite area once dubbed 'the triangle of death' and was badly affected by sectarian violence last decade
The bomber, who appears to be only a teenager, was named as Saifullah al-Ansari
VIdeo footage has emerged of the moment the suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest in a large crowd
A source at Iskandariyah hospital confirmed the toll, warning that the casualties figure were preliminary and could rise.
The medic told AFP that the attack took place around 7:00 pm with sources claiming that nearly 65 people were killed in the attack.
ISIS have reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast, having carried out a spate of attacks near Baghdad in recent months
Iskandariyah is part of a mixed Sunni-Shiite area south of Baghdad which was once dubbed 'the triangle of death' and was badly affected by sectarian violence last decade.
Pushing back ISIS in this region after the jihadists took over large parts of the country in 2014 was one of the priorities of the government and allied Shiite militias.
That was achieved in a few months and IS has been largely eradicated from the area but violence - of a sectarian nature and crime-driven - has remained frequent.
The medic told AFP that the attack took place around 7:00 pm with sources claiming that nearly 65 people were killed in the attack
ISIS have reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast, having carried out a spate of attacks near Baghdad in recent months
Pushing back IS in this region after the jihadists took over large parts of the country in 2014 was one of the priorities of the government and allied Shiite militias
Further south, at least 47 people were killed when a truck bomb exploded at a checkpoint at the entrance of the city of Hilla on March 6.
The attack was the deadliest car bomb explosion in Iraq this year.
The jihadist group has been losing territory steadily in Iraq for almost a year.
In the most recent operations, Iraqi forces have been gaining ground in the western province of Anbar and have just begun their reconquest of the province of Nineveh.
In the cities the group retains control over, internal tension appears to be on the rise and the lack of supplies is taking its toll.
Observers have warned that, as their self-proclaimed 'caliphate' shrinks towards extinction, IS fighters are likely to revert to their old guerrilla tactics and ramp up suicide attacks on civilian targets.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3509718/ISIS-suicide-bomber-blows-FOOTBALL-STADIUM-near-Baghdad-killing-29-people-injuring-60.html#ixzz446NJZNsC
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