A few days ago, a crowded market near Tayaran Square in Baghdad was the site of a double suicide bombing. With at least 32 people dead and over 100 wounded, Iraq is reeling from this new trauma. These bombings come as a surprise to Iraqis given ISIS has lost control of most of the country in recent years, meaning fewer attacks. NPR asserts that Baghdad hasn’t seen an attack of this magnitude since the 2018 bombing that occurred in the same square. The perpetrators of this 2018 attack employed similar techniques to the recent attack and killed 35 people, claims U.N. News.

Early Thursday morning, two men entered the market with explosive vests hidden under large jackets. The first suicide bomber pretended to be in pain, causing a small group of people to come to his assistance, says an official of the Iraqi interior ministry. When people gathered near him, he detonated the bomb. While first responders and civilians were tending to the wounded, the second bomber initiated his explosive device.

This attack targeted Iraqi working poor, a usual target of the Islamic State. Therefore, it is not surprising that ISIS has taken responsibility on Telegram, claims NPR. This attack targeted Iraqi Shiite Muslims – believers from a sect of Islam conflicting with the Sunni Muslim terrorist group – claimed a Major General with Joint Operations Command in Iraq. NPR claims Iraq’s Sunni minority feel discriminated against by the Shiite majority and leadership in the country, which energizes ISIS’s Sunnis to retaliate. Additionally, some Iraqis say these bombings are linked to upcoming election tensions, according to the New York Times. This attack occurred a few days after the government announced elections would be moved from June to October to allow for better preparation, says U.N. News. This is such a tense subject because anti-government protestors in 2019 demanded early elections and an end to corrupt leadership.

In recent years, ISIS lost some of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria, and the group has seen a decrease in annual revenue. In haste, the U.S. and Iraqi governments have stated their near victory over the Islamic State, the U.S. has decided to withdraw troops, and Iraqi forces have been asked to finish the fight against ISIS. However, the terrorist group still has some influence in the region. Currently, Iraqi military forces are fighting ISIS sleeper cells and strike teams in the northern part of the country and near the Syrian border, claims the New York Times.

Attacks like this most recent one in Baghdad suggest that ISIS is reclaiming its position in the region. In fact, in 2019, despite former U.S. President Trump’s assertion that ISIS was defeated, officials on the ground in Iraq and Syria claimed the Islamic State still had a solid foothold in the region, claims the New York Times. ISIS is involved with business investments and cannabis farms, suggesting the group is still rooted in various sectors of society. Additionally, there are make-shift camps for refugees and ISIS family members in Syria. With little security in these camps, ISIS is seeking to indoctrinate and recruit, claims a report by the Pentagon, State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The United States’ focus in the region has shifted to Iran despite ISIS still posing a threat to U.S. interests and allies. Because ISIS isn’t fully contained yet, collaboration between the U.S. and Iraq must continue to assure that Iraqi forces are capable of defeating ISIS without U.S. support in the future. To this end, U.S. President Biden’s defence secretary nominee, Retired General Lloyd Austin, commits to continuing U.S. support of Iraqi forces fighting terrorism. With the U.S.’s involvement in the decline of the Islamic State up to this point, the U.S. cannot abandon Iraq before it is certain that ISIS can no longer wreak havoc in the country. Intelligence sharing, proper resource allocation, and a U.S. troop presence in Iraq may need to continue in an adjusted capacity. Undoubtedly, support from the United Nations and other countries and organizations would be ideal in combatting terrorism in Iraq and the region as well as providing humanitarian assistance to civilians in conflict zones.