BAGHDAD (AP) – A suicide bomber struck a gathering of Shiite mourners in Baghdad Sunday, killing at least four people and wounding another 12, Iraqi officials said, as government troops prepared for a decisive battle to drive the Islamic State extremist group from the major northern city of Mosul.
The attack took place in Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated Jadriyah neighborhood on the Tigris River, where the explosive-laden bomber approached Shiites commemorating the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, a police officer said.
A medical official confirmed the toll. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information to the press.
The IS militants claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement carried by the IS-linked Aamaq news agency. The claim could not be independently verified.
The group swept through a swath of Iraq in June 2014 and took control of significant areas in the north and west. Along with parts of Syria, it declared an Islamic caliphate that covers nearly a third of each country.