Terrorism Watch: 3 hanged over involvement in Iraq bombing

The Iraqi government have executed 3 people convicted of involvement in a car bombing incident in Baghdad in 2016 that had resulted in at least 300 casualties.

The 3 suspects were reportedly hanged on Monday August 28 as confirmed by the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office, with the names of suspects not identified to the press after the execution.

According to a government source who spoke to AFP news agency, it is alleged that Ghazwan al-Zawbaee was a mastermind behind the vehicle bombing, with the mastermind believed to be among those who were put to the executioner’s block.

Zawbaee was reportedly arrested and returned to the Iraqi state in 2021.

Following their execution, the prime minister reached out to the families of the victims of the 2006 bombing incident, informing them that justice had been given to the 3 key suspects found guilty of involvement in the terrorist attack.

The explosion, which occurred on July 3, 2016, near a bustling shopping center in the predominantly Shia Muslim neighborhood of Karrada, resulted in the tragic loss of more than 300 lives and left hundreds injured.

The explosion, caused by a vehicle packed with explosives, not only caused immediate devastation but also led to a fire that engulfed the surrounding area, contributing to the high casualty count. Following the horrific incident, the then-Interior Minister Mohammed Ghabban tendered his resignation due to the scale of the tragedy.

At that time, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi directly accused Ghazwan al-Zawbaee of being the “primary culprit” responsible for the Karrada bombing and other acts of terrorism. The bombing marked one of the deadliest single attacks in Iraq since the commencement of the US-led invasion in 2003.

The responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), which later admitted its involvement. While IS has since suffered significant territorial losses and military setbacks, it continues to maintain a presence in pockets of Iraq, Syria, and parts of Africa.