Iraq
Members of the Iraqi security forces outside the entrance of a Shiite mosque in the Baladiyat district of the capital Baghdad on June 21, 2019, following an explosion. PHOTO: AFP / Ahmad al-Rubaye
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region-The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed on Sunday that one of its militants carried out a suicide attack in a Shiite mosque in Eastern Baghdad on Friday amid an uptick of militant activity in Iraq.
Through telegram channels, ISIS claimed that a militant named Abo Ali al-Ansari had carried out a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in the al-Baladiyat neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.
There were conflicting reports about the number of casualties of the Friday bombing, and there are no definite numbers. Iraq’s Security Media Cell responsible for announcing security news was silent, while Saad Maan, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, also was silent.
Reuters reported that seven people were injured in the bombing.
AFP on its part reported that there were two killed civilians and nine individuals were wounded.
Sky News Arabia citing Iraqi media al-Sumeria claimed that seven Iraqis were killed in the suicide bombing and more than 20 were injured.
ISIS on its part claimed that the attack killed and injured more than 40 individuals in the bombing.
The bombing is part of the uptick in ISIS activity across the country. Despite the fact that the group was declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017 by former PM Haider al-Abadi.
Between 14,000 and 18,000 ISIS militants are estimated to still be operating in Iraq and Syria, according to a UN report in February.
In Iraq, ISIS have taken shelter in and around the Qarachogh Mountains and in the Hamrin mountain range in Kirkuk, where they have entered and demanded taxes from villages, as a means to gain funding.
Keen to recuperate their strength following their territorial defeat in Iraq the militants have also torched several local crop fields in recent weeks of farmers who refused to pay the tax.
Remnants of the group ambushed and kidnapped a group of Kurdish civilians in April. They later released all but one, who, upon inspection of his phone was found to be a member of the Kurdish security forces (Asayish). He was subsequently killed.
They have also targeted and assassinated mukhtars (local neighborhood or village chiefs) so that they can operate in villages freely.
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