At least nine people were martyred and many others were injured in a car bombing claimed by Takfiri ISIL group in Baghdad as the terrorists continue its bloody insurgency.

A suicide bomber targeted a cafe in the Iraqi capital’s Karrada district on Monday evening, detonating a vehicle laden with explosives near a hospital.

Hospital sources said 20 people were also wounded in the blast and there were fears the death toll could rise as recovery operations continued.

Witnesses said the blast hit near the site of another attack by ISIL that killed 324 people in July in one of the deadliest atrocities since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.

ISIL propaganda agency reported the attack, saying it targeted a “group of Shiites [Shias].”

ISIL has been driven out of all but one of its city strongholds in the country and security forces backed by volunteer forces are soon expected to launch an offensive on Mosul.

Source: Agencies