Baghdad's deadliest single attack: Death toll reaches 119, ISIS says bombing targeted Iraq's Shiite Muslims

Baghdad: A suicide car bombing killed at least 119 people in a Baghdad shopping district in the early hours of Sunday, making it the deadliest single attack in the capital this year, officials said. 

According to security officials, the blast ripped through a street in the Karrada area where many people had gone to shop ahead of the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The explosion claimed lives of at least 95 people left over 130 wounded. 

ISIS claims responsibility of the terror attack

ISIS issued a statement claiming the suicide car bombing, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi as part of the group's ongoing security operations.

The jihadist group said the bombing targeted members of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, whom it considers heretics and frequently attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere.

The bombing came a week after Iraqi forces completely recaptured Fallujah, a city 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad that was a key ISIS stronghold.

Violence in the capital has decreased since ISIS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but the jihadists have previously stepped up attacks following military losses.

With Fallujah retaken by Baghdad, second city Mosul is the only major Iraqi population centre held by ISIS.

(With AFP inputs)