On Thursday at around 10 AM local time, a deadly twin suicide bomb attack struck a usually bustling market in central Baghdad.
The attack killed at least thirty-two people and injured 110 others.
According to Iraqi officials, the first bomber entered the market pretending to be sick and asked for help.
When people gathered around him, he blew himself up.
"We were there by the stands. The attacker came, fell to the ground and started complaining 'my stomach is hurting'..Then he pressed the detonator in his hand. It exploded immediately. People were torn to pieces."
The second bomber is said to have then driven to the scene on a motorcycle before detonating his explosive vest.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack early Friday via the group's Amaq news agency.
Iraq's health minister said many of the injured are in a critical condition and all the hospitals in the capital city are being mobilized to help in the aftermath.
This was the first suicide attack to strike Baghdad in nearly two years, and comes amid heightened political tensions and a severe economic crisis.
Suicide attacks were once an almost daily occurrence in the Iraqi capital.
But attacks had halted in the years since Islamic State fighters were defeated in 2017, improving security overall and bringing normal life back to Baghdad.
The Iraqi Prime Minister held an urgent meeting with top officials on Thursday and deployed security forces and blocked key roads to prevent possible further attacks. Choi Jeong-yoon, Arirang News.