- Terrorist drove lorry laden with ice into a market in Khan Bani Saad, Iraq
- He encouraged locals to gather around, offering discounts for Eid al-Fitr
- But beneath the thin layer of ice were three tonnes of deadly explosives
- Killer driver waited until truck was surrounded before blowing himself up
- 115 people were killed and scores injured as the blast left a massive crater
Islamic State barbarians fighting in Iraq lured scores of sweltering citizens to surround a lorry purportedly selling discounted ice before blowing it up and killing 115 people.
A terrorist drove a vehicle packed with more than three tonnes of explosives into the busy market area of Khan Bani Saad, north of the capital Baghdad, on what was a scorching Friday afternoon.
In what is considered one of deadliest attacks in Iraq this decade, the driver called on hundreds of locals to gather around the vehicle, telling them he was selling ice at a heavily discounted price in celebration of Eid al-Fitr - the feast that ends the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Although ice was visible on the back of the truck, more than three tonnes of explosives were hidden beneath it. The explosion caused by the deadly load being detonated by the Islamic extremist killed 115 innocent people, injured scores more and left a massive crater in the floor of the marketplace.
Sick: A terrorist drove a vehicle packed with more than three tonnes of explosives into the busy market area of Khan Bani Saad, north of the capital Baghdad, on what was a scorching Friday afternoon
Destruction: The explosion caused by the deadly load being detonated by the Islamic extremist killed 115 innocent people, injured scores more and left a massive crater in the floor of the marketplace
Aftermath: In one of deadliest attacks in Iraq this decade, the driver called on hundreds of locals to gather around the vehicle, telling them he was selling ice at a heavily discounted price in celebration of Eid al-Fitr
Grief: Iraqi men sit near the coffins of victims who were killed in a bomb attack in the Khan Bani Saad on Friday
Residents recounted scenes of horror in the aftermath of Friday's attack, in which officials said at least 15 children were among the dead.
Muthanna Saadoun, a municipal employee who drives a street sweeper, used his truck to help put out the fires that the blast caused in the market area.
'People were burning in their cars because no ambulances or fire engines were able to reach them,' the 25-year-old said.
ISIS, who were quick to take responsibility for the killing, said the suicide attacker had packed a massive three tonnes of explosives in his vehicle.
The blast left a huge crater in the main street of Khan Bani Saad, only12 miles from Baghdad's northern outskirts, in Diyala province.
Cuts of charred meat were still hanging from the hooks of one butcher's stall that was ravaged by flames. Several collapsed buildings were still smouldering 12 hours after the attack.
A child's toy elephant lay in the middle of the street as a defence ministry bulldozer shovelled the debris and cleaners swept blood-stained water.
Carnage: People gather at the scene of a suicide car bombing at a busy market in the Diyala province
Crater: The truck was filled with explosives when it was detonated on Friday evening, killing 115
Horror: People had gathered at the market to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan
'What we witnessed...cannot be described. Fire, bodies, wounded, women and children screaming... Khan is now a disaster zone,' said Salem Abu Moqtada, 34, who sells vegetables in the market.
'The toll so far is 90 martyrs and 120 wounded, and we have between 17 and 20 missing,' Abbas Hadi Saleh, the top official in Khan Bani Saad, which is mainly Shiite with a Sunni minority said.
Since his comments, the death has risen to more than 100 as bodies were still being retrieved from the rubble of collapsed buildings.
'Every year (during Ramadan) there's a bombing. We are guilty of being Shiite,' Saleh said. 'This is the biggest in Diyala since 2003.'
Sunni Muslims began marking Eid al-Fitr on Friday but Iraq's majority Shiite community started celebrations on Saturday.
Markets are usually packed in the days before the holiday as people preparing for large family gatherings shop for food and clothes.
'We do not have an Eid,' said Hussein Yassin Khidayyer, a 45-year-old shop owner. The force of the blast threw him to the back of his shop but he escaped unscathed.
'No one wished each other a happy holiday,' he said.
Help: Men emptied boxes of tomatoes to use them for carrying the bodies of small children hurt in the bombing
'Joy has turned to grief': This is one the deadliest attacks in Iraq in the last decade
Eid al-Fitr is one of the most important dates in the Islamic calendar and traditionally sees families gather to celebrate the end of a month during which many fast from dawn to dusk.
ISIS said the attack targeted Shiite militias, a claim it often makes even when most of the victims are civilians.
Baghdad announced in January that Iraqi forces had 'liberated' Diyala, significant parts of which had been overrun by ISIS after the jihadists launched a brutally effective offensive in June 2014.
The jihadists no longer have fixed positions in the province but have reverted to their old tactics of planting car bombs and carrying out suicide operations or hit-and-run attacks.
Using an alternative Arabic name for the ISIS terrorists, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi condemned the attack as 'a despicable crime by the Daesh terrorist gangs'.
'We are determined to hunt them down on the battlefield and in every corner of Iraq until we get rid of the last terrorist,' he said in a statement.
Iraqi forces are currently pressing a broad offensive in Anbar, where they are tightening the noose on IS in the western province's two main cities, Ramadi and Fallujah.
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