![Mourners hold the wedding suit of Akram al-Karradi, a 22-year-old victim of a suicide bombing that ripped through Baghdad's busy shopping district of Karrada two days earlier, during his funeral on July 5th, 2016. The suicide bombing claimed by the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' killed more than 200 people. [Sabah Arar/AFP]](/cnmi_am/images/2017/03/09/7440-iraq-wedding-bombing-700_496.webp)
Two "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) suicide bombers attacked a celebration being held the night before a wedding north of Baghdad, killing 27 people, the Salaheddine police said on Thursday (March 9th).
The bombings in the al-Hajaj area, north of the city of Tikrit, also wounded 33 people, police spokesman Hassan al-Majmaie told Diyaruna.
"The first blew himself up at 8:30 p.m. amid men who were dancing during the celebration," while the second attacked a few minutes later, a police lieutenant colonel told AFP.
The bombers detonated explosive belts, the officer said.
Among the victims were four children and three women, al-Majmaie said.
"Eight of the dead men have not been identified yet because they were burnt beyond recognition in the blasts," he added.
"The attack is a reaction to ISIL's recent defeats in Mosul and Anbar," he said.
The wedding party was for a family affiliated with a major anti-ISIL tribe in Anbar, according to al-Majmaie.
Salaheddine provincial council deputy head Ahmed Nazem al-Azzawi condemned the attack, describing it as "cowardly and shameful".
The attack proves that "the terrorists have no regard for any human or religious value", he told Diyaruna, stressing that "this must not pass without punishment or reprisal".
'No escape from punishment'
The provincial council intends to hold meetings with police and army commanders in the province "to investigate what happened", he said.
"We will not stand idle when such a serious breach of security occurs."
"Urgent steps will be taken to eliminate sleeper cells in the province that threaten the life of citizens," al-Azzawi said. "We must eradicate ISIL’s strongholds and take decisive action against its attempts to disturb the province’s security."
ISIL’s attack on the wedding party is in response to the major losses the group has suffered in the battle to liberate the city of Mosul, said Salaheddine provincial council security committee chairman Jassim al-Jabara.
"With this barbaric act, the enemy wants to send a message that it still exists and is still able to hurt people and wage the most heinous bloody attacks," he told Diyaruna.
The security forces and tribesmen are "exerting their utmost efforts to hunt down the wanted terrorists, and whoever perpetrated such a crime will not escape punishment", he said.
Al-Jabara called for enhanced security measures to prevent "secret militant strongholds from forming in the province’s deserts".
