BAGHDAD: At least five people were killed and several others wounded when a suicide bomber struck a cafe in Baghdad, police said Thursday, in a pre-dawn attack claimed by Daesh.
“A suicide bomber blew up his explosive belt while he was surrounded by police near a public garden in Al-Shoala district,” a mainly Shiite northern neighborhood of the capital, the statement by the security forces said.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 15 people.
A police source told AFP five people had been killed and 16 others wounded in the overnight bombing, which hit people who had gathered after breaking their daily Ramadan fast.
Those killed were a woman, a girl and three police officers, according to the source.
Later, Iraqi securety forces announced Thursday that it prevented an attack in Iraq hours after the suicide attack in Baghdad claimed 5 in Al-Shoala district of Baghdad.The Iraqi security forces said that its units encircled eight alleged suicide bombers near Kirkuk. The police did not reveal where the suicide bombers were going to strike before they were shot dead
The attack in Al-Shoala district came on the seventh day of Ramadan fasting, a period regularly hit by bloody extremist violence in Iraq since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Cafes in Iraq are particularly busy at night during this Islamic holy month, with families and friends gathering to relax and eat before the fast re-starts at dawn.
Iraq in December claimed victory over Daesh after a long campaign to retake swathes of territory captured by extremists, but Daesh continue to carry out various attacks in Iraq despite its victory announcement.
