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1st LD: 20 killed in suicide bombings in central Iraq

Xinhua, July 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least 20 people were killed and some 70 others wounded when two suicide bombers on Friday detonated themselves at a Shiite shrine in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, while other gunmen took many Shiite pilgrims hostages, a provincial security source told Xinhua.

The attack occurred shortly after midnight when a group of gunmen disguised in military uniforms stormed the shrine of Saiyd Mohammed in the town of Balad, some 80 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, while two suicide bombers detonated explosives with themselves at the shrine, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The gunmen, who believed to be members of Islamic State (IS) group, also held an unknown number of Shiite pilgrims hostages inside the shrine, but the security forces freed the hostages after fierce clash, killing all the attackers, the source said.

The battle with IS caused damages to the shrine and set fire to some surrounding buildings, the source added.

The revered Imam is the son of Imam Ali al-Hadi and the brother of Hasan al-Askari, the 10th and 11th of the 12 most revered Shiite Imams respectively. The Imam died in the 9th century and his tomb lies in the domed shrine constructed in Balad.

Iraq is currently witnessing a wave of violence since the IS terrorist group took control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions in June 2014.

An IS militant conducted a suicide bombing attack in Iraq's capital of Baghdad on Sunday which killed 292, the health ministry said early Thursday.

"The government has handed over 115 bodies to their families and identities of 177 people have yet to be determined," Health Minister Adila Hammoud said in a statement.

A suicide bomber detonated a car loaded with explosives in front of a shopping center in the commercial district in southern Baghdad on Sunday, which is the deadliest bombing attack since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack that also left another 200 people wounded. "Most of the wounded are recovered and only 23 of them are still in the hospitals for treatment," she added.

A report by UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) estimated that 662 Iraqis were killed and 1,457 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in June across Iraq. Endit