Islamic State claims it bombed Baghdad hotels

Islamic State claimed responsibility on Friday for bombings outside two heavily fortified five-star hotels in the Iraqi capital that killed 10 people.

In a statement, Islamic State said a suicide bomber called Abu Qutaiba had parked a car outside the Ishtar hotel in central Baghdad late on Thursday before driving another vehicle laden with 230 kg of explosives to the nearby Babylon hotel.

The bomber detonated himself and the vehicle he was driving there around the same time the first car bomb exploded, “killing and wounding dozens of infidels“, according to the statement.

Ten people were killed and at least 27 were injured by the blasts.

Iraqi police officials say a car bomb exploded in the car park of the Babil Hotel, killing six people and wounding 14 others. About a minute later, a second car bomb blast in the car park of Cristal Hotel killed four people and wounded 13 others.

Iraqi authorities lifted a decade-old night-time curfew on Baghdad early this year, seeking to restore a sense of normality to the capital as security forces battle Islamic State insurgents who have overrun large parts of the country.

But the rate of bombings in Baghdad has increased since then.

Militants seized Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital west of Baghdad, on May 17th in the most significant military setback to the government since a US-led coalition launched a campaign of air strikes against Islamic State last August.

Reuters