UPDATE - Twin bombing kills 24 in Iraqi capital

UPDATES DEATH TOLL

By Ibrahim Salih

BAGHDAD (AA) – At least 24 people were killed and dozens injured in a twin bombing claimed by Daesh terrorist group in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, according to security and health officials.

Two bombers detonated themselves near spare parts shops in Al-Sinak market in central Baghdad, police officer Ahmed Khalaf told Anadolu Agency.

Hamid al-Gammal of the Baghdad health department said 24 people were killed, including the two bombers.

“At least 38 people were also injured in the bombing,” he said.

The Al-Sinak market is usually teeming with shoppers and daily laborers unloading vans and wheeling carts around.

Daesh terrorist group has swiftly claimed responsibility for the double attack.

The Daesh-linked Amaq news agency said the bombing had targeted a gathering of Shias in the Iraqi capital.

Saturday’s bombing came amid a wide-ranging offensive launched by the Iraqi army to recapture Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group.

Iraq’s second largest city in terms of population, Mosul was overrun – along vast swathes of territory in both northern and western Iraq – by Daesh in 2014.