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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Lucy Pasha-Robinson

Baghdad attacks: Eiffel Tower goes dark for victims of Isis bombings in the Iraqi capital

The Eiffel Tower was plunged into darkness to honour the victims of two bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. 

The lights that illuminate the Parisian monument were switched off to pay tribute to the victims. At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a series of Isis car bombs. 

The first bomb was detonated outside a popular ice cream shop, killing at least 15 and wounding 27 in the commercial Karrada district, police and health officials said. 

A few hours later, a second explosives-laden car went off during rush hour near the state-run Public Pension Office near the al-Shahada (Martyrs') Bridge in the busy Shawaka district, killing at least 12 and wounding 23 more, a police officer said.

During Ramadan many Muslims stay up until the early hours, going out to spend time with their families, shop and eat before dawn breaks and the next day's fast begins.

CCTV of the explosion outside the ice cream parlour shows a busy downtown area, with cars driving down the street when a massive blast strikes. 

A huge fireball then engulfs a building, forcing cars to scramble to get away. Videos of the attack posted on social media show wounded and bloodied people crying for help on the road outside the ice cream shop. 

Karrada was hit by a massive truck bomb in July 2016 that killed at least 324 people, the deadliest attack in Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

Isis has been retreating in Iraq since the end of 2015 in the face of US-backed government forces and Iranian-backed Shi'ite paramilitary groups.

It is now besieged in an enclave in the northern city of Mosul, which it has used as its de facto capital in Iraq. Isis declared from Mosul a "caliphate" over parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014. 

Additional reporting by Reuters

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