Two men blew themselves up in a crowded Baghdad market on Thursday, killing at least 32 people in Iraq's first big suicide bombing for three years, authorities said, describing it as a possible sign of the reactivation of Islamic State.
Reuters journalists arriving after the blasts saw pools of blood and discarded shoes at the site, a clothing market in Tayaran Square in the centre of the city. Health authorities said at least 110 people had been wounded.
"One (bomber) came, fell to the ground and started complaining 'my stomach is hurting' and he pressed the detonator in his hand. It exploded immediately. People were torn to pieces," said a street vendor who did not give his name.
Suicide attacks, once an almost daily occurrence in the Iraqi capital, have halted in recent years since Islamic State fighters were defeated in 2017, part of an overall improvement in security that has brought normal life back to Baghdad.
"Daesh terrorist groups might be standing behind the attacks," Civil Defence chief Major General Kadhim Salman told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
A video taken from a rooftop and circulated on social media purported to show the second blast scattering people gathered in the area. Images shared online, which Reuters could not independently verify, showed several dead and wounded.
The latest attack took place in the same market that was struck in the last big attack, in January, 2018, when at least 27 people were killed.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi held an urgent meeting with top security commanders to discuss the suicide attacks, the premier's office said in a brief statement. Iraqi security forces were deployed and key roads blocked to prevent possible further attacks.
Suicide attacks against civilian targets were a near-daily tactic of mainly Sunni Muslim insurgents during the US occupation of Iraq after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, and were later employed by Islamic State, whose fighters swept across a third of the country in 2014.
By 2017 the fighters had been driven from all territory they held, although they have continued to wage a low-level insurgency against Iraqi forces and attack officials mainly in northern areas.
Pope Francis, who is scheduled to visit Iraq in March, has condemned the twin suicide bombings as a "senseless act of brutality".
In a message sent in his name to the Iraqi president, the pope gave no indication as to whether the bombing would affect his planned trip.
"In deploring this senseless act of brutality, he (the pope) prays for the deceased victims and their families, for the injured and for the emergency personnel in attendance," the message said.
It said the pope hoped that Iraqi could continue to work to overcome violence with "fraternity, solidarity and peace.".
Francis is scheduled to make the first trip by a pope to Iraq on 5-8 March, visiting Baghdad and four other towns.
The Vatican on Wednesday issued new logistical information for journalists planning to cover the trip, but sources have said it could be postponed or cancelled at any time depending on the security situation or health conditions related to the coronavirus pandemic.