Ahead of Mosul operation, ISIS claims deadliest attack in Baghdad since July
BAGHDAD, Iraq – At least 53 people were killed in three separate attacks across Iraq on Saturday, including a suicide bombing in Baghdad that was the deadliest since July and claimed by ISIS.
That Baghdad attack killed at least 41 people and wounded another 33, as Iraqi and Peshmerga forces positioned themselves for an assault on Mosul to evict ISIS from the Iraq stronghold it has controlled since June 2014.
Officials said the suicide bomber attacked a gathering of Shiites in the al-Shaab area of northern Baghdad, detonating explosives inside a tent erected for the Shiite holy day of Ashura. Some of the victims were inside the tent mourning the death of a local resident.
Reuters reported eight policemen were killed and another 11 wounded when gunmen believed to belong to ISIS attacked a police checkpoint north of Baghdad.
In a separate attack, again north of Baghdad, the wife and three children of a tribal leader who is cooperating with the Iraqi government forces against ISIS were killed by a group of gunmen.
The tribal leader was not at home at the time of the attack. When the gunmen were chased by security forces, they detonated their explosives vests, police said.