26 killed in Baghdad suicide bombing and roadside blast
The so-called Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a suicide blast and a roadside bombing that targeted Shiites in Baghdad, killing a total of 26 people and wounding dozens.
The suicide bomber struck a memorial service held for a Shiite militia fighter killed in battle against IS in the Iraqi capital’s south-western suburb of Hay al-Amal, a police official said.
That explosion killed 21 people and wounded at least 46.
The militia fighter was killed while fighting against the militant group in Iraq’s western Anbar province, the official added.
Also on Friday, a roadside bomb detonated at a Shiite shrine in Baghdad’s Sadr City, killing at least five people and wounding 15.
Baghdad has seen near-daily attacks since the emergence of IS, with roadside bombs, suicide blasts and assassinations targeting Iraqi forces and government officials, with significant casualties among the civilian population.
The violence has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of Iraqis.
Shiite militia fighters answered a call to arms last year after the country’s highest Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sisani, called on Iraqi men to defend the country.
The militias, which later formed an umbrella paramilitary force called the Popular Mobilisation Forces, have been an integral part in the battle against IS, supporting Iraqi forces in battles in Salahuddin, Anbar and Baghdad provinces.
In a statement distributed on pro-IS Twitter accounts, the Sunni militant group said the aim of Friday’s attacks was “revenge for our monotheist brothers in al-Fallujah, al-Anbar, and Salahaldin”, referring to ongoing Iraqi military operations to retrieve land lost to the IS in those locations.
