BAGHDAD: A group of gunmen, including two suicide bombers, stormed a coffee shop in a town north of Baghdad early on Friday, killing at least 13 people and wounding 15 there, Iraqi officials said.
Within hours, the Daesh group posted a statement online claiming responsibility for the attack, which took place shortly after midnight Thursday in Balad, 80 km north of the Iraqi capital.
The attack came on the heels of a two-day wave of bombings in Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people — attacks that have also been claimed by the Daesh group. The deadliest struck the sprawling Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in northeast Baghdad on Wednesday, killing 63 people.
According to Iraqi officials, three gunmen armed with machine guns opened fire into the crowded Balad cafe and once police arrived at the scene, two of the attackers detonated their suicide vests. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Later Friday, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, condemned the wave of attacks and said the government is ultimately responsible for such security breaches, accusing the country’s politicians of “closing their ears to their advisers.”
Barbaric group owns up Iraq cafe attack that took 13 lives
Barbaric group owns up Iraq cafe attack that took 13 lives
