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| Iraq | |
| Bombings at Iraq cafe kill 20: Officers | |
| 2016-01-12 | |
| [Al Ahram] Bombings killed 20 people and wounded dozens at a cafe in the Iraqi town of Muqdadiyah northeast of Baghdad on Monday, officers said. A bomb exploded at the cafe and a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle after people gathered at the scene, a police captain and an army colonel said. More from Youth Independent: Militants attacked a shopping mall in eastern Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 17 people and injuring 40 more. A gun battle lasted almost two hours, and officials were nervous a hostage situation was ensuing. But when the fight came to a close, officials said that most of the deaths had actually been caused by car bomb that started the attack and by two suicide bombers who struck at the mall’s entrance, The New York Times reports. An Iraqi security official claimed that the attackers killed at least 17 people, including five security force members, and injured almost 40 people. The Islamic State (ISIS), or the terrorist group that controls big portions of Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for the two-in-one attack. The group said that it targeted a gathering of “rejectionits,” otherwise known as Shi’ite Muslims. The group also said that four militants were involved and said that they killed nearly 90 people in a social media post, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which is keeps up with jihadist communications. “What is coming is worse and more bitter, God permitting,” the group stated.
The Iraqi intelligence services announced on December they had detained 40 IS members as part of major swoop in the Baghdad area. They described the arrests as the continuation of an operation that saw them bust a car bomb-making cell in Baghdad earlier in 2015. | |
| Posted by:Fred |