'Thank God you are safe': Baghdad rebuilds after Ramadan attacks

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The festive greeting of "Ramadan Kareem" has been replaced by whispers of "thank God you are safe" at al-Faqma ice-cream parlour.

Sombre glances are exchanged by those who returned to this site, only a day after an Islamic State car bomb killed at least 15 people nearby.

"That night was horrible," said Muntasar al-Mashhadani, the assistant manager of al-Faqma, of the attack late on Monday night in the Karrada district.

"Wherever you walked, wherever you looked you could see blood."

But Iraqis refuse to be cowered by terrorism.

As the sun set on Tuesday evening, crowds returned to break their fast, turning a simple celebration with their loved into an act of defiance against those who would prey on their happiness.

"The atmosphere [during Ramadan] is beautiful," said al-Mashhadani. "People are always smiling."

For a city that usually closes down by 10pm, wracked by years of insecurity and the constant threat of violence, Ramadan has becomes something of a release valve.

"During Ramadan the load on our restaurant massively increases," said Ali, a 25-year-old manager at a restaurant near al-Faqma. 

"To cater for the high volume of customers we have had to stop serving a set menu and offer only an open buffet."

And mere hours after the devastating attack, the latest of several in Karrada alone, the city has moved on. 

Builders came to al-Faqma in the day to plaster over cracks and repoint the walls. 

Streets were swept, shrapnel cleared and blood washed away. 

We have to continue after each bomb

- Ahmed Jasim

"We have to continue after each bomb," said Ahmed Jasim, a 24-year-old builder stood under a blood-stained shop sign only hours before. "Life must go on." 

"When I heard the news [of the bomb] I felt nothing," says Duha Hashim, a local journalist in the city. "We expect this now."  

Two further bombs shook the city within hours of the attack on the ice-cream store.

But shop owner Muhanad Hassan does not flinch: "If we let these attacks affect us, they win, so for us, life must continue."