This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Baghdad • A car bomb exploded outside a popular ice cream shop in central Baghdad just after midnight Tuesday, killing 13 people and wounding 24, hospital and police officials said.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iraqi officials said apparently involved remotely detonated explosives inside a parked car. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
The attack came just days into the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast during daylight hours. After sundown, families break their fast, and Baghdad's restaurants and cafes quickly fill up. Videos posted to social media showed chaotic scenes on the streets surrounding the blast. A number of wounded lay on the ground, others propped themselves up on the colorful park benches outside the ice cream shop. One young girl, wearing a ribbon and bow in her hair, wandered the scene dazed.
Ramadan is often marked by an uptick in violence in Iraq. Last year, Baghdad was rocked by a huge truck-bomb attack that targeted a popular retail district in the city center where young people and families were shopping for new clothes ahead of the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The blast killed hundreds in the single deadliest event in Baghdad since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for that bombing, which led to the resignation of Iraq's interior minister.