Death toll rises: Five Baghdad car bombs kill 64 people, injure dozens more

BAGHDAD, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- For the second time in three days, multiple ISIS suicide bombers claimed significant casualties.

Monday's violence began when a man detonated a bomb inside his truck in Baghdad's Sadr City district, killing at least 30 and injuring 61 others. The man was pretending to recruit day laborers and allowed dozens to gather around the truck before triggering the deadly explosion.

Early reports of the number of victims varied. Some reports had the death toll as low as 18, others had the number as high as 39.

The initial bombing was followed by four more explosions throughout the city. One bomb at hospital killed another 27. One person was killed by another car bomb set off in the parking lot of al-Kindi hospital in central Baghdad. Two other car bombs claimed six more lives.

By the end of the day, the death toll had risen to at least 64, according to the Washington Post.

A pair of similar attacks on Saturday, New Year's Eve, claimed 30 lives. All three attacks, Saturday's and Monday's, targeted Shia gatherings. Saturday's attacks also occurred near the outdoor produce market in the eastern half of the city center.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for all of the weekend's violence. The hard-line Sunni terror group considers Shias apostates, or heretics.

According to several online sources, the terror group said Monday's attack was intended to "honor" French President Francois Hollande, who is visiting French troops in Iraq.

U.S. and Iraqi forces continue to try to drive Islamic State fighters from Mosul, in northern Iraq, the terror group's last remaining stronghold. The push has been met with much resistance, and has also inspired an uptick in violence in Baghdad.