60 dead, 86 injured in massive truck bomb explosion in Baghdad

At least 60 people have been reportedly killed after a massive truck bomb ripped through a popular Baghdad food market in the early morning hours of Thursday.

Media reports citing police officials said the truck detonated in the Jameela market in Baghdad’s crowded Sadr City neighbourhood shortly after dawn on Thursday.

They said at least 86 people were wounded in the attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but Islamic State militants commonly target predominantly Shiite neighbourhoods such as Sadr City, with the goal of sending a message to the Shiite-dominated government.

While near-daily attacks are common in the capital, death tolls have rarely reached this level for a single attack since the height of the country's brutal sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007.

"On Thursdays, the market is especially crowded because people come from the other provinces to stock up on food for the weekend," one of the officers said.

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