ISIS Car Bomb Kills 13 at Central Baghdad Ice Cream Parlor

Remote Detonated Bomb Set Off Near Ramadan Observers

A car bomb was remotely detonated outside of a popular ice cream parlor in central Baghdad overnight, killing at least 13 people and wounding 24 others,, according to local officials. Video showed a catastrophic aftermath of the bombing, which was claimed by ISIS.

The attack took place around midnight. The area is particularly busy because this is Ramadan, during which Muslims fast during the day, and feast after sundown. Restaurants and other food vendors are open late, and particularly busy at this late hour because of the holiday.

Busy crowded civilian targets are popular targets for militants during Ramadan, particularly in places like Baghdad where targeted neighborhoods are broadly Shi’ite, and the militants can assume that the casualties will also overwhelmingly be Shi’ites.

With Iraq heavily focusing their military on an invasion in Mosul, there are fewer and fewer forces remaining to provide security in the rest of the country, and with ISIS feeling pressure in Mosul, they are likely to be even more eager to lash out at soft targets around the country.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.