Islamic State twin suicide bombings at Baghdad mall kill 12

BAGHDAD At least seven people were killed late on Friday when a car packed with explosives went off in front of a shopping mall in eastern Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.


There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but Islamic State militants regularly attack civilian and security targets inside Iraq's capital.


More than 30 people were also wounded in the bombing at Nakheel Mall across from the oil ministry, and the death toll was expected to rise.


The fight against Islamic State, which seized a third of Iraq's territory in 2014, has exacerbated a long-running sectarian conflict in Iraq, mostly between the Shi'ite majority and the Sunni minority.


The militants have lost ground in the past year to U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias, but such bombings show they can still strike outside the territory they control in northern and western Iraq.


(Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Will Dunham)

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