On 3 July 2016, ISIL militants carried out coordinated bomb attacks in Baghdad that killed 340 civilians and injured hundreds more. A few minutes after midnight local time (2 July, 21:00 UTC), a suicide truck-bomb targeted the mainly Shia district of Karrada, busy with late night shoppers for Ramadan. A second roadside bomb was detonated in the suburb of Sha'ab, killing at least five.

ISIL issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, naming the suicide bomber as Abu Maha al-Iraqi. There were reports that the source of the blast was a refrigerator van packed with explosives. The explosion caused a huge fire on the main street. Several buildings, including the popular Hadi Center, were badly damaged.

On 18 October 2021, Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa Al-Kadhimi announced that Ghazwan al-Zawbaee, the man behind the bombing was arrested by Iraqi security forces.