BAGHDAD, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- At least 70 people died in Baghdad in two suicide bombings perpetrated by the Islamic State targeting an outdoor market in a predominantly Shia district.
The explosion in Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday left at least 161 people injured. The explosions were reportedly caused by a motorcycle rigged with explosives and a suicide bomber who detonated as people gathered to help those injured from the first explosion.
The Islamic State's media wing -- the al-Hayat Media Center -- claimed responsibility for the attack and said more attacks would follow.
The Islamic State is a Sunni militant Islam group and considers Shiites to be heretics.
Last week, the group claimed responsibility for a similar attack in a Shia suburb of Damascus, Syria.
Since 2014 the group has controlled swaths of land in northern and western Iraq after spilling over from Syria in a rapid advance that sent thousands of Iraqi troops fleeing.
The Iraqi military, supported by airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition, has counter-attacked since then, seizing IS-held cities such as Tikrit, Sinjar and Ramadi.
However, the militants still possess strongholds in Mosul, Fallujah and neighboring Syria -- and continue conducting suicide bomb attacks in Shia communities, often detonating a follow-up explosive after emergency services and crowds have formed at the scene of an initial blast.
Fred Lambert contributed to this report.
