Iraqi civilians inspect the crater left by the blast. Yahoo/AFP.
A massive car bomb exploded in the town of Khan Bani Saad killing at least 90 people and wounding 120. AFP. At least 15 children died in the blast and a further 15 to 20 people are still missing. The Islamic State has taken credit for the attack. A suicide bomber detonated three tons of explosives in he vehicle he was driving at a checkpoint near the town's main market Khan Bani Saad is 12 miles north of Bagdhad and is dominated by Shiite Muslims. The attack coincided with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fiter holiday. ISIS said that it was targeting Shiite Muslims in the attack. Khan Bani Saad is located in the Diyala province, which was liberated from ISIS in January. Though ISIS is no longer in control of the territory, they still have an operational presence and have reverted to their old strategy of hit and run attacks and suicide bombings.
My Comment:
It sounds like Ramadan is finally over. It's been a hell of a month. Just to recap there was a beheading in France, a mass shooting in Tunisia, a huge car bombing in Kuwait, a major raid on Kobani in Syria, another major bombing in Hasakah, a major offensive in Egypt along with the murder of a high ranking prosecutor, and possibly the attack in Chattanooga the other day. I'm not counting all the normal battles and minor attacks that I may be forgetting. That's a hell of a butchers bill. ISIS promised to make Ramadan a bloody one, and it looks like they succeeded.
As for the attack itself, it's quite a bad one. I think the casualty numbers will probably increase in time. A three ton car bomb is incredibly powerful, and in a crowded place like a market it can do quite a bit of damage. This isn't the first time this has happened as markets like this were always a prime bombing target during the earlier stages of the Iraq War. You would think after all this time, the Iraqis would find a better way to do their shopping then an outdoor market, but hindsight is always 20/20.
The attack also brings up an important point. Even after ISIS is pushed out of a region, they still have the ability to strike. They are still able to do bombings like this, even months after they lost control of the province. And it's not hard to see why. Either they infiltrated back in or they left a few people behind to cause chaos. You can't completely defend against either, and even if you try people will slip through. It's a lot like the raid on Kobani. ISIS lost the original battle after months of siege warfare, but just last month they came back with a vengeance. It was a suicide mission that resulted in the death of most or all of the attackers, but they still managed to cause quite a bit of chaos. Expect more of this as ISIS loses territory in Iraq.
Car bombings in Iraq are nothing new, but this seems to be a return to form for ISIS. In the recent past, most ISIS car bombings were military style raids as opposed to strait terrorism. They would use multiple car bombs to strike the enemy lines, blowing a hole which infantry and light vehicles could attack through. That's how they captured Ramadi, but in this case no further attack occurred.
You would think that ISIS would have stuck with that tactic, considering how effective it was. Though this attack had political and propaganda purposes, I almost wonder if it was a waste of resources for ISIS. Perhaps ISIS has no new offensives planed for the time being, but if they did it would make sense for them to use the explosives and manpower in that attack instead of a militarily pointless attack on civilians.
The scary thing is that ISIS probably knows that this bombing would have been more effective militarily if they had targeted Iraqi security forces instead of civilians. They just don't care. For them, killing Shiite Muslims on their most important holiday is much more important then any military victory this car bomb could have given them. That is some serious hate, and I don't know how you can counter that.
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