Death toll from IS-claimed bombing climbs to 157

Police and health officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information, warned that there are still people missing and that the death toll could rise further.

Analysts say this demonstration of the terror group’s capacity to strike in the heart of the capital may force a delay of the long-awaited government push to retake the northern metropolis of Mosul, the largest city under ISIS control.

But he did not directly accept responsibility for the bombing, rather saying the security system was fundamentally flawed and that he could not “be responsible for the blood and responsible for this confusion in this security system”.

Iraqi Interior Minister Mohammed al-Ghabban has offered his resignation following the bombing, citing failures in “having the different array of security forces work under a unified plan in Baghdad”.

The attack is the deadliest by a single suicide bomber since the USA invasion of Iraq in 2003.

At the time, families were shopping for presents for the Eid festival at the end of Ramadan, and restaurants were crowded for the pre-dawn meal in preparation for a day of fasting.

“Citizens must remove this government by any means”, said Ali al-Yasiri, one of those gathered at the site.

On Tuesday morning, Karada residents held a funeral procession for a young man at the scene of the blast. His mother, with an Iraqi flag draped over her shoulder, led the crowd of mourners as they carried his wooden coffin and pounded their chests in grief. Others were seen throwing flowers on the coffin, which was also wrapped in the Iraqi flag.

Speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, al-Ghabban criticized what he described as the inefficiency of the country’s security and intelligence apparatuses, pointing in particular to a deadly bombing in central Baghdad that killed scores of people on Sunday.

Sunday’s attack underscored the IS group’s ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country and fueled public anger toward their political leadership.

Several news outlets reported the attacks have increased Iraqis frustration with their government’s inability to prevent large-scale bombings or protect Baghdad.