Ankara condemns bloody Baghdad car bomb attack

By Ecenur Colak

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned Tuesday a suicide car bomb attack in the Iraqi capital that killed at least 23 people.

The Daesh terrorist group has claimed responsibility -- according to a statement circulated online -- for the Monday evening attack that injured 45 others when a car laden with explosives went off in a crowded shopping area in al-Amil neighborhood in southern Baghdad.

“We strongly condemn this heinous attack, convey our condolences to the people of Iraq and wish speedy recovery to the wounded,” the ministry said in a written statement Tuesday.

In recent months, bomb attacks -- often featuring explosive-laden vehicles -- have become commonplace in Iraq’s violence-prone capital.

The Iraqi authorities typically blame such attacks, which frequently target civilian areas, on Daesh -- which captured large swathes of territory in the country’s north and west in 2014.