BAGHDAD: The Iraqi premier sacked three Baghdad security chiefs following a devastating bombing in the capital, his office said on Friday, hours after another attack to the north left 40 dead.
Daesh said it carried out the latest attack — on a Shiite shrine in the town of Balad that began Thursday evening — as well as Sunday’s bombing which killed 292 people, one of the deadliest to ever hit Iraq.
A suicide bomber blew up a minibus packed with explosives in a Baghdad shopping district teeming with people ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, sparking widespread anger against the government.
Iraq’s interior minister tendered his resignation after the bombing, but the Friday statement was the first announcing that officials were fired following the attack.
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi issued “an order to relieve the Baghdad Operations commander of his position,” as well as remove the officials responsible for intelligence and security in the capital, his office said. The head of the Baghdad Operations Command was Lt. Gen. Abdulamir Al-Shimmari.
An official in Abadi’s office said the others removed were the head of Interior Ministry intelligence for Baghdad and the official responsible for the capital in the national security adviser’s office.
In Thursday’s attack, militants targeted the Sayyid Mohammed shrine in Balad, 70 km north of Baghdad, Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool told AFP.
The shrine was attacked with mortar fire, then by suicide bombers wearing security force uniforms, Rasool said. Security forces fired on the bombers, who were not able to enter the shrine, and two of them blew themselves up, while a third was shot dead, he said.
The attack sparked a fire that caused heavy damage to the market near the shrine, an AFP journalist reported.
Daesh issued a statement claiming the attack, saying that five terrorists took part, killing guards at the shrine, then clashing with Iraqi forces for hours before detonating explosives they were carrying.
Two days earlier, when the full scale of the death toll had yet to emerge, the minister had told AFP that the process of identifying all of the dead was expected to take between 15 and 45 days.
People have been furious over delays in determining the fate of their loved ones, and with the number of unidentified bodies now bigger, it may take even longer.
The extremist group has responded to the battlefield setbacks by hitting back against civilians, particularly Shiites, and experts have warned there may be more bombings as the group continues to lose ground.
Daesh said it carried out the latest attack — on a Shiite shrine in the town of Balad that began Thursday evening — as well as Sunday’s bombing which killed 292 people, one of the deadliest to ever hit Iraq.
A suicide bomber blew up a minibus packed with explosives in a Baghdad shopping district teeming with people ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, sparking widespread anger against the government.
Iraq’s interior minister tendered his resignation after the bombing, but the Friday statement was the first announcing that officials were fired following the attack.
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi issued “an order to relieve the Baghdad Operations commander of his position,” as well as remove the officials responsible for intelligence and security in the capital, his office said. The head of the Baghdad Operations Command was Lt. Gen. Abdulamir Al-Shimmari.
An official in Abadi’s office said the others removed were the head of Interior Ministry intelligence for Baghdad and the official responsible for the capital in the national security adviser’s office.
In Thursday’s attack, militants targeted the Sayyid Mohammed shrine in Balad, 70 km north of Baghdad, Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool told AFP.
The shrine was attacked with mortar fire, then by suicide bombers wearing security force uniforms, Rasool said. Security forces fired on the bombers, who were not able to enter the shrine, and two of them blew themselves up, while a third was shot dead, he said.
The attack sparked a fire that caused heavy damage to the market near the shrine, an AFP journalist reported.
Daesh issued a statement claiming the attack, saying that five terrorists took part, killing guards at the shrine, then clashing with Iraqi forces for hours before detonating explosives they were carrying.
Two days earlier, when the full scale of the death toll had yet to emerge, the minister had told AFP that the process of identifying all of the dead was expected to take between 15 and 45 days.
People have been furious over delays in determining the fate of their loved ones, and with the number of unidentified bodies now bigger, it may take even longer.
The extremist group has responded to the battlefield setbacks by hitting back against civilians, particularly Shiites, and experts have warned there may be more bombings as the group continues to lose ground.
