Iraqi officials: Attack on cafe north of Baghdad kills 13

A group of gunmen, including two suicide bombers, stormed a coffee shop in a town north of Baghdad early Friday, leaving at least 13 people dead and 15 wounded, Iraqi officials said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault in Balad, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the Iraqi capital. The attack came on the heels of a two-day wave of bombings in Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people — attacks that have been claimed by the Islamic State group. The deadliest struck the sprawling Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in northeast Baghdad on Wednesday, killing 63 people.

The Balad attack started with three gunmen, armed with machine guns, who opened fire into the crowd in the cafe shortly after midnight Thursday, the officials said. Once police arrived at the scene, two of the attackers detonated their suicide vests, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The IS bombings this week exposed lingering gaps in Baghdad's defenses, which are manned by an array of security agencies and militias that don't always cooperate. They also point to the resilience of the extremist IS group, which has increasingly resorted to bombings in civilian areas far from the front lines as it has lost some territory to Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes.

On Thursday evening, hundreds took to the streets in Baghdad's Sadr City to demand government accountability for the security breaches. Protesters carried signs calling for the interior minister to resign while others called for the minister of defense and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to also step down.

Anti-government protests first erupted last summer as temperatures soared and millions were left without electricity. While al-Abadi proposed a series of government reforms in August 2015 that he claimed would combat corruption, very little has been implemented. Repeated delays in Iraq's parliament sparked another wave of protests this year, led by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In late April the cleric's supporters stormed Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone and the parliament building.

Since the unprecedented breach of the compound, which is home to many of Baghdad's ministries and foreign embassies, the country's government has been largely gridlocked as many lawmakers are boycotting parliament.

Iraqi officials and analysts warn that the deepening political crisis may be distracting Iraq's security forces from the fight against IS. The Iraqi government claims IS only occupies 14 percent of the country's territory after a string of battlefield losses, but the extremist group still controls key border areas between Iraq and Syria as well as Iraq's second largest city of Mosul.

SOurce: http://www.newindianexpress.com

slamic State detonates car bomb in Baghdad market, kills 45

An explosives-laden car bomb ripped through a commercial area in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 45 people and wounding dozens in an attack that was swiftly claimed by the extremist Islamic State group.

Shortly after the explosion, one of the deadliest recently in the Iraqi capital, the Sunni extremist group — which sees Shiite Muslims as apostates — said it was behind the assault. IS said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, but Iraqi officials denied that.
Security forces and citizens inspect the scene after a car bomb explosion at a crowded outdoor market in Baghdad. AP

Security forces and citizens inspect the scene after a car bomb explosion at a crowded outdoor market in Baghdad. AP

The bombing showed that while IS has suffered a number of territorial defeats in the past year, the militants are still capable of launching significant attacks across the country. They also have recently stepped-up assaults inside Baghdad, something officials say is an attempt to distract from their recent battlefield defeats.

Wednesday's bomb struck a crowded outdoor market in Baghdad's eastern district of Sadr City, two police officials said, adding that the blast also wounded up to 65 people, several seriously, prompting fears the death toll could rise further.

Ambulances rushed to the scene where dozens of residents walked through the twisted and mangled wreckage of cars and other debris that littered the pavement, trying to help the victims. The street was stained red with blood in many places and front-side facades of several buildings were heavily damaged. Smoke billowed from ground-level stores gutted out by the explosion.

Karim Salih, a 45-year old grocer, said the bomb was a pickup truck loaded with fruits and vegetables that was parked by a man who quickly disappeared among the crowds of people.

"It was such a thunderous explosion that jolted the ground," Salih told The Associated Press.

"The force of the explosion threw me for meters (yards) away and I lost consciousness for a few minutes," the merchant added. He suffered no injuries, but two of his workers were wounded.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the car bomb. AP

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the car bomb. AP

Four medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to release the information to reporters.

In its online statement, IS said it had carried out a suicide attack that targeted a gathering of Shiite militiamen. The AP could not immediately verify the authenticity of the claim but it appeared on a website commonly used by the Sunni militants.

IS also a controls significant area in northern and western Iraq, including Iraq's second-largest city of Mosul. Commercial and public places in Shiite-dominated areas are among the most frequent targets for the Sunni militants seeking to undermine Iraqi government efforts to maintain security inside the capital.

In February, the group carried out devastating back-to-back market bombings in Sadr City, the stronghold of followers of an influential Shiite cleric. That attack claimed the lives of at least 73 people.

According to the United Nations, at least 741 Iraqis were killed in April due to ongoing violence. The U.N. mission to Iraq put the number of civilians killed at 410, while the rest it said were members of the security forces. A total of 1,374 Iraqis were wounded that month, UNAMI said.

In March, at least 1,119 people were killed and 1,561 wounded in the ongoing violence.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com