Multiple jihadist attacks kill more than 50 in Baghdad

Terrorists detonated suicide vests inside a shopping mall in Baghdad on Monday and a car bomb exploded nearby killing at least 18 people and wounded 40 others. Following the attack, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement posted on an affiliated website.

The jihadist group said in an online statement that four of its members carried out the attack and claimed that as many as 90 people were killed or wounded. The group warned of “worse” to come.

According to Reuters, Five more people were shot dead by the gunmen storming the mall, and six others were killed when those same assailants detonated their explosive vests, the sources said.

The officials had earlier estimated that 50-75 people were trapped in the mall.

A little while later, two bombs went off at Muqdadiya, around 80 km northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 23 and wounding another 51.

Another blast in a southeastern Baghdad suburb killed seven more while earlier in the day three three people were killed when a car bomb went off near a restaurant in Baquba, 65km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

A bomber detonated his suicide vest inside a casino in the town. A car bomb parked outside then went off as medics and civilians gathered at the site of the first blast.

Reuters said that security officials had imposed a curfew for all of Diyala province, where Muqdadiya and Baquba are located.