IS claims responsibility for mall attack

In a separate attack, a auto bomb in a market in south-east Baghdad killed five and wounded 12.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has claimed resposibility for the attack.

The prime minister wrote on his Twitter account that the attack was a “desperate attempt” by Daesh militants, after they lost control over the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, which had been occupied by the group since May.

But a senior police officer gave a different account, saying the attackers sprayed gunfire and blew up a vehicle bomb on the street before entering the mall and taking hostages.

Brigadier Qasim al-Anbuki, the local head of police intelligence, was leading a force to check tips about a suspected auto bomb parked on a highway linking Baghdad to Baquba.

Iraq is one of the most unsafe countries in the world for journalists, especially those from the country, who are far more exposed to attacks than their foreign counterparts.

People in an eastern neighbourhood of Baghdad are assessing the damage caused by a bomb and shooting attack on a shopping mall.

“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.

Security forces at one stage in the attack reported that gunmen had full control of the mall and it was not clear how the standoff ended.

I raq was hit by several Islamic State (IS) attacks on Monday in which over 40 people were killed across the country.

Iraq’s Sharqiya news channel announced on Tuesday that the pair came under attack near the provincial capital, Baquba, located some 50 kilometers northeast of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.

The assault was carried out by two perpetrators and wounded 13 other people, Iraqi officials said.

The Iraq government had last month claimed victory over militants in the town of Ramadi. When world leaders convene for the U.N. General Assembly debate Monday, Sept. 28, 2015, it will be a year since the USA president declared the formation of an global coalition to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State group.