Baghdad - A suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State
group killed at least 15 people in a Shi'ite area of northern Baghdad on Sunday,
security and medical officials said.
The bombing, which struck near a checkpoint in the
Kadhimiyah area, home to a major Shi'ite shrine, also wounded at least 29
people, the officials said.
IS issued a statement claiming the attack, saying it
targeted soldiers and pro-government paramilitaries in the area.
The jihadist group frequently carries out attacks on
security forces, and also often targets members of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim
majority, whom it considers heretics.
An IS suicide bomber struck shoppers in Baghdad's central
Karrada district earlier this month, killing 292 people.
The group also claimed an attack on a Shi'ite shrine in
Balad, north of the capital, that left 40 dead a few days later.
IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014,
but Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground and are conducting
operations to set the stage for the battle to recapture Mosul, the last IS-held
city in the country.
The jihadists have responded to the battlefield setbacks by
striking civilians, and experts have warned there may be more such attacks as
the jihadists continue to lose ground.
