A rare suicide bombing in an oasis town south of Baghdad killed eight people on Monday, Iraqi officials said, an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. The attack in Ain al-Tamer, which also wounded at least six people, involved multiple suicide bombers, some of whom may have been killed by security forces before they could blow themselves up, officials said.
Masum al-Tamimi, a member of the Karbala provincial council, said that six suicide bombers armed with light weapons as well as explosives tried to infiltrate Ain al-Tamer early on Monday. But they clashed with security forces before withdrawing to the Al-Jihad area and detonating explosives there, Tamimi said, putting the death toll at eight, a figure confirmed by a doctor.
The interior ministry said that five of the bombers were killed by security forces while the sixth detonated explosives inside a house. But IS issued a statement claiming the attack in which it said that there were only five bombers, identified with noms de guerre indicating that two were from Mosul and three from Syria.
The jihadist group said that the bombers, who were armed with automatic weapons and grenades as well as explosive belts, battled security forces until running out of ammunition and then blew themselves up. Attacks in southern Iraq are rare, especially compared to the frequent bombings that hit Baghdad.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.