Gunmen attack Baghdad mall, killing 10 and taking hostages

Gunmen set off a auto bomb at the entrance to a mall in mainly Shia eastern Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 25 as the attackers raced inside and took hostages, Iraqi officials said. Meanwhile, earlier today a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint north of Baghdad, killing four police and injuring an intelligence officer.

The source added that at least seven people were killed, while 20 others were injured during the attack.

In a statement claiming responsibility, ISIS said the attacks targeted Shiite Muslims and it warned worse was yet to come.

Further, Islamic State fighters also suffered a setback in Kirkuk province, as Kurdish fighters drove them out of the town of Hawija.

On Tuesday, a suicide attacker detonated a bomb when police approached his vehicle in the city of Baquda in eastern Iraq.

Monday’s attacks left the biggest death toll in three months. The group still controls much of northern and western Iraq.

Merchandise can be seen on shelves through store windows shattered by the blast. “When the security forces got too close, they killed three hostages”, he said.

The assailants managed to flee the scene before security forces arrived.

The head of Baghdad Operations Command, Lt. Gen. Abdelamir al-Shammari, insisted to reporters on the scene that the situation was quickly brought under control.

At least 12 people have been killed and 35 injured in an attack on a shopping centre in the Iraqi capital, according to security officials.

Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan denied initial reports that people had been held hostage by the militants, according to Reuters. A bomber detonated his suicide vest inside a casino in the town. Witnesses say a auto bomb went off then militants ran in spraying people with bullets.

Security officials said they had imposed a curfew on all of Diyala province, where Muqdadiya and Baquba are located.

“These attacks are part of a deliberate campaign to undermine the strength of the Iraqi security forces”, said Patrick Martin, an Iraq analyst at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, D.C.