Auckland Iraqi group holding candlelight vigil for victims of ISIS attack

The vigil will be held on Wednesday at the Mission Bay Fountain at 7.30pm in solidarity with the victims and their loved ones. Photo / iStock

The Iraqi community in Auckland is holding a candlelight vigil for the victims of an ISIS attack in Baghdad on Sunday and are calling for the Sky Tower to be lit up in remembrance for those who died as well.

At least 142 people died in a suicide bomb attack in the Shia neighbourhood of Karrada and around 185 were injured.

The vigil will be held on Wednesday at the Mission Bay Fountain at 7.30pm in solidarity with the victims and their loved ones, as well as support one another in a time of grief.

"The Iraqi community will express their sympathy by honouring the victims of this brutal attack on humanity and remembering all the innocent lives that have been lost in Iraq over the past couple of days," spokesman Khaled Alzawada said in a statement.

Some community members will also be collecting donations for The Red Cross Iraq Crisis Appeal.

"Iraqi Kiwis have called for a show of solidarity with Iraq by lighting up the Sky Tower in Auckland with the Iraqi flag colours just as it has been for previous victims all over the world.

"The community will be uniting tomorrow to say that Iraq matters too. Iraqi victims have names, faces, dreams and hopes too. They too, like those in Paris or Brussels, have stories."

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, issuing a statement saying it was carried out by an Iraqi as part of "ongoing security operations".

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered changes to Baghdad security measures in response to the bombing, the most deadly in Iraq this year.