At least 167 people have been killed and 185 others injured in two car bombings in busy commercial areas of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The powerful explosion early on Sunday happened when the streets were filled with young people and families. The IS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the deadliest in Iraq since 2007.
One attack occurred when a suicide bomber detonated his car bomb at a crowded thoroughfare in Karada District in southern central Baghdad. A multi-level building was damaged, and several cars were destroyed by the powerful blast. Shortly after another explosion ripped through the capital when a booby-trapped car went off at Shallal market.
The devastating attack came after IS encountered a series of territorial losses at the hands of Iraqi forces, including the city of Fallujah, which might have irritated the extremists to carry out the retaliation. Innocent civilians lost their lives as they crowded at popular areas at night after the day's fast, with many shopping and celebrating ahead of the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday on Wednesday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited and surveyed the blast site on Sunday morning and later declared three days of public mourning. Iraq has been hit by a new wave of violence since IS took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014.
A report by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) estimated that 662 Iraqis had been killed, and 1,457 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence, and armed conflict across Iraq this June.