IraqDeath toll of Baghdad attack climbs to 250

The Iraqi government said that the number of dead in Sunday’s massive suicide truck bombing near a central Baghdad shopping mall has reached 250, making it the deadliest attack in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The Iraqi health ministry said the number of dead is likely to rise as more bodies are being pulled from the rubble, and more of those seriously injured die in hospitals.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it was part of the organization’s on-going campaign against Shi’a Muslims.

Iraq’s interior minister Mohammed al-Ghabban has resigned, saying the authorities “had failed in having the different array of security forces work under a unified plan in Baghdad.”

The BBC reports that in a press conference in which he announced his resignation, Ghabban called on the government to hand over responsibility for the security of the country’s cities to the interior ministry, describing the hundreds of checkpoints deployed around the capital as “absolutely useless.”

He said the explosives-rigged refrigerator truck came to Baghdad from Diyala province north of Baghdad, which means that it had to pass through dozens of security checkpoints on the way into the Iraqi capital.

The BBC reports that the responsibility for security in Baghdad is divided among the army, federal, and local police.