Death Toll In July 2 Baghdad Bombings Rise To 200

The death toll from Saturday's suicide bombing in Baghdad has risen to 200, the deputy head of the security committee of the Baghdad Provincial Council, Mohamed al-Rubaye‎, said in a televised phone interview Monday.

A suicide truck bomb ripped through a busy shopping district in Baghdad over the weekend, killing more than 100 in what was the deadliest single attack in the war-weary country in years.

The brazen Saturday night attack in the heart of the packed Karrada neighborhood killed at least 125 people, including 25 children and 20 women.

Families had been gathering hours after they broke the fast for the holy Muslim month of Ramadan and prepared for Eid al-Fitr -- the day that marks the end of the holiday this week.

As people congregated, shopped and watched soccer matches, the bomb-laden truck plowed into a building housing a coffee shop, stores and a gym. Firefighters rescued wounded and trapped people in adjacent buildings.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. It was the latest in a string of assaults during Ramadan, a period of fasting and prayer for Muslims and also a time when jihadists launch operations against those they regard as their enemies.

(CNN)