Sunni mosques attacked after IS claims Baghdad blasts

At least two mosques south of Baghdad were attacked last week after a Shia cleric was executed in Saudi Arabia, triggering angry reactions in Iraq and neighbouring Iran.

Shi’ite militias were crucial in keeping Islamic State from overrunning Baghdad and southern Shi’ite shrines during their lightning advance across the Syrian border in 2014, and have supported Iraqi forces pushing back the militants, including from parts of Diyala.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but suicide bombings are a tactic frequently used by Sunni militants in Iraq, including the Islamic State jihadist group.

Iraqi forces with USA support recently pushed Islamic State fighters out of Ramadi, the capital of Iraq’s Anbar Province in the west. That was the biggest population center yet that the Islamic State had lost, but it is still firmly in control of its two most important cities – Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, and Raqqa, the group’s de facto capital in Syria.

Gunmen stormed the Jawhara Mall on Monday after setting off a vehicle bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance.

Islamic State claimed the attack saying that it targeted “rejectionist” – a derogatory term the group uses to describe Shia Muslims, and said that there was “worse to come”. Islamic State still controls much of northern and western Iraq. The Iraqi forces responded immediately by deploying a number of troops to surround the building while the others landed on the roof.

The latest attacks indicate a worrying presence of ISIS militants in and around the Iraqi capital, whilst the fight against the militant group rages across the country.

“The scene was awful, and I will never forget it because of the child”, said Haitham Ali, 48, who was near the attack and carried away the body of a child killed by one of the suicide bombers.

Another deadly attack was carried out in the town of Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles (90 kilometers) north of Baghdad in Diyala province.

Also on Monday evening, a auto bomb in southeast Baghdad in a crowded market area killed five and wounded 12, according to hospital and police officials. Officials said 23 people were killed and 44 were wounded in the combination attack.