Gunmen assault Baghdad mall, killing 10, wounding 25 and taking hostages

At least 10 people were killed and 22 were injured when insurgents attacked a shopping mall in Baghdad Monday with hand grenades and at least two nearby bombs, police told NBC News.

At least four police officers were among those killed in the terror attack, which lasted around an hour and a half, according to the police and medical officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Two more bombs went off in the eastern town of Muqdadiya killing at least 20 people and wounding 50 more.

A hospital official confirmed the death toll and said 14 people were also reported to have been wounded in the attack.

“People started running into the shops to hide, but (the militants) followed them in and opened fire without mercy”, said Hani Fikrat Abdel Hussein, a shop-owner standing amid shattered glass and rubble at the site of the blasts.

The assault, which also included a car-bomb blast at the mall’s entrance, was the first major bloodshed in central Baghdad in weeks. Police officials say the cafe was frequented by militia fighters under the government-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces and many fighters are among the dead.

Two assailants were believed to have been killed and another four arrested as the stand-off was declared over.

For Baghdad residents, the attack was a fearsome reminder of the days when their city faced near-daily mass casualty attacks from vehicle bombs and suicide attackers.

Monday’s bombings were the deadliest in three months and came after Iraqi security forces made advances against IS in Anbar province.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for the attack, as well as for a later attack in Diyala province.

According to Reuters, ISIS said the attack at the Jawhara mall was specifically meant to kill Shiite Muslims.

The militants overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since dealt them significant defeats.

Haqqi al-Jabouri, a member of the local council in Diyala province where Muqdadiya is located, said both types of attacks hurt the social fabric of the community.