Series of bombings kill nearly 40 people across Baghdad
BAGHDAD — A massive bombing by the Islamic State group outside a popular ice cream parlour in central Baghdad and a rush- hour car bomb in another downtown area killed at least 31 people Tuesday, Iraqi officials said.
Later in the day, bombings in and around the Iraqi capital killed seven more people.
The attacks come as IS militants are steadily losing territory to U.S.-backed Iraqi forces in the battle for Mosul, the country’s second-largest city. The Sunni extremists are increasingly turning to insurgency-style terror attacks to distract attention from their losses.
The nighttime attack outside the ice cream parlour in the bustling Karrada neighbourhood killed 17 people and wounded 32, police and health officials said.