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ISIS claims responsibility for three bombings that killed 35 in Iraq

Iraqi security forces and firefighters gather at the site of car bomb attack near a government office in Karkh district in Baghdad, Iraq, May 30, 2017. | Reuters/Khalid al-Mousily

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for three separate bombings that killed at least 35 people in Baghdad and in a city to the west of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday.

A car bomb exploded outside a popular ice cream parlor, killing at least 13 and wounding 40, in in the commercial Karrada district on Tuesday, just after midnight.

Iraqi officials said that families with children were enjoying a late-night snack after breaking their Ramadan fast when the blast occurred.

Fox News reported that videos of the attack showed the wounded people crying for help on the sidewalk outside the ice cream parlor.

According to Reuters, a second bomb exploded near a government office in Karkh district a few hours later. At least 10 people were killed and 44 were injured in the second blast.

Later that night, another 12 people were killed, including seven military members, and at least 24 were wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest at an army check point in a commercial street of Hit, a Sunni town west of Baghdad.

A London-based Middle East expert said that ISIS carried out the attacks to prove that the group can still terrorize Baghdad, even as it loses ground in Mosul.

"[ISIS] wants Iraqis to fear going out and this is to show they are still present and able to strike the heart of the Iraqi capital, even as they are being defeated on the battlefield," Hayder al-Khoei said.

Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy to the coalition against IS, condemned the attacks after the militants took credit for the bombings.

"Isis [IS] terrorists tonight in Baghdad target children & families enjoying time together at an ice cream shop. We stand w/Iraq against this evil," McGurk tweeted.

Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim Mohammad al-Araji vowed to capture the militants "wherever they may be," following the attacks.

"They targeted a group of civilians; families, women and children in these nights of Ramadan and this is clear evidence that this organization is a terrorist one trying to kill civilians by any means," he stated.

The bombings occurred just days into the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast during daylight hours. Families usually stay up late and go out at night to shop and eat before dawn breaks and the next day's fast begins.

In July 2016, at least 324 people were killed after a massive truck bomb exploded in the Karrada district. It was seen as the deadliest attack in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003.