Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — There were no Filipinos among those killed and wounded in the latest suicide bombing in Baghdad that left at least 125 dead, including 25 children and 20 women, the Philippines’ top diplomat in Iraq said Sunday.
The truck bomb ripped through a busy shopping district in the Iraqi capital on Saturday as families gathered to break the fast during this holy Islamic month of Ramadan and prepared for Eid al-Fitr — the day marking the end of the holiday this week.
It was the deadliest single attack in Iraq in years. The Islamic State admitted responsibility for the suicide bombing.
Elmer Cato, Charge D’Affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad, told CNN Philippines that there were no reports of Filipino casualties in the incident. He said most Filipinos working in the country are based in the “Green Zone” — a highly secured area.
“Immediately after the incident, since we know that this is a place that Filipinos go to, we issued an advisory reminding them to stay vigilant and stay indoors and avoid public places,” he said.
He said there are some Filipinos who work in the district that was hit by the bombing and that embassy staff have been getting in touch with them.
Cato reminded Filipinos in Iraq to avoid public places and stay indoors as much as possible. He said that a heightened security alert is still up in Iraq and a deployment ban for Filipino workers is still in place.
“We anticipate with Ramadan about to end in a few days, there would be an escalation of such attacks by the Islamic State,” Cato added.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Joe Sterling and Susanna Capelouto contributed to this report.
