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Update: Death Toll In Baghdad Bombing Climbs, U.S. Offers Support

Photo: Hadi Mizban/AP.
Update July 4, 11:15 a.m.: The death toll for the Baghdad bombing has now reached 149 people, according to The Associated Press. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday to offer help from the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement officials, according to a statement by Spokesperson John Kirby.
This article was originally published on July 3. A series of bombings in Baghdad, including one targeting a popular shopping area, left dozens dead in the Iraqi capital on Saturday. Early death toll estimates have ranged from 80 to 125. The dead include more than a dozen children, according to The Associated Press. Officials say the first attack occurred late Saturday, when a car bomb exploded in the city's Karrada district. The predominately Shia neighborhood was bustling with shoppers and families at the time of the blast, according to the BBC.

"It was like an earthquake," Karim Sami, a street vendor who was on the scene, told The AP. "I wrapped up my goods and was heading home when I saw a fireball with a thunderous bombing. I was so scared to go back and started to make phone calls to my friends, but none answered." The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for that attack. No one has claimed responsibility for the second bombing, which went off in another Shia area close to midnight. The bombings in Baghdad come on the heels of an attack on a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that left 20 hostages dead. ISIS has also claimed responsibility for that attack, though officials in Bangladesh say the militants who stormed the café were not connected to the group. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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