Gunmen occupy Baghdad shopping mall, killing 10 and taking hostages

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –  Gunmen set off a car bomb before storming a shopping mall in an eastern Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 10 people and taking hostages, news agency reports said.

Police and medical officials said the gunmen set off the car bomb to open the way for fighters to move into the mall, the Associated Press reported from Baghdad.

It quoted officials as saying another 25 people were wounded in the attack and that three police are among the dead. The officials estimated that 50-75 people remained trapped in the mall.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group that is at war in Iraq often targets the country's Shiite majority.

The tactics used in the attack – using car bombs to open the way for fighters to storm in and take hostages at facilities ranging from ministries to military bases – has been a favorite tactic of the jihadi groups, across Iraq.