Families gathered in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf to bury their loved ones, who were killed in an attack in Baghdad over the weekend.
The death toll from the attack targeting a shopping district in Baghdad has risen to over 150, fueling calls for security forces to crack down on IS sleeper cells blamed for one of the worst ever single bombings in Iraq. Numbers rose as bodies were recovered from the rubble in the Karrada area of Baghdad, where a refrigerator truck packed with explosives blew up on Saturday night when people were out celebrating the holy month of Ramadan.
The toll in Karrada stood at 151 killed and 200 wounded by midday on Monday, according to police and medical sources. Rescuers and families were still looking for 35 missing people. Mourning relatives of the victims carried coffins covered in Iraqi flags to the cemetery and mosque in Najaf.
The attacks cast a shadow over victory statements made last month by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's government, after Iraqi forces dislodged IS from Falluja, the stronghold of the ultra-hardline insurgents near Baghdad.