Baghdad marks 10 years since ISIS Al-Karrada bombing

Shafaq News- Baghdad

The scars of Baghdad’s Al-Karrada bombing, one of Iraq's deadliest terrorist attacks, remain visible a decade after the tragedy, which killed more than 300 people and injured 250 others.

The bombing took place on July 3, 2016, during the final days of the holy month of Ramadan, when families were shopping ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday. A vehicle packed with explosives detonated in the busy Al-Karrada district, targeting three shopping complexes, including Al-Laith Mall, igniting massive fires that trapped dozens of people inside stores and surrounding buildings. The blast also destroyed numerous parked vehicles and buses, making it one of the deadliest attacks in Iraq since 2003.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. Iraqi authorities later identified Ghazwan Al-Zawbaei, a senior ISIS commander, as the operation's mastermind. Security forces arrested him in 2021, and Iraqi authorities executed him in August 2023 along with two other militants convicted over the bombing and other terrorist attacks.

Damaged buildings have since been renovated, and traces of the fire erased, the memory of the attack continues to define Al-Karrada. Photographs of the victims still line the district's streets, many of them residents of the neighborhood, while others had traveled there to shop before the holiday. Each year, relatives of the victims gather outside Al-Laith Mall, the site of the deadliest fire, lighting candles and carrying photographs of family members who lost their lives while preparing to celebrate Eid.

Iraq declared military victory over ISIS in late 2017, the group, however, continues to operate through small insurgent cells in remote areas. In the first half of 2026, the Interior Ministry said security forces dismantled four ISIS cells, conducted around 80 preemptive operations, and issued 479 arrest warrants under the Anti-Terrorism Law.

Read more: Iraq’s western desert from ISIS hideouts to new security challenges