12 killed as gunmen take hostages in Baghdad mall

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Gunmen blew up a vehicle bomb, sprayed gunfire in a crowded area and took hostages in the shopping mall in eastern Baghdad Monday.

The attack comes two weeks after the Islamic State was driven out of the western city of Ramadi by Iraqi government troops. The attack began with a vehicle bomb blast at the entrance to the mall, then continued as several fighters shot their way into the mall and two of them detonated suicide vests.

IS claimed that a total of 90 people were killed or wounded but the group has exaggerated the number of casualties caused by its attacks in previous such statements. The conflicting accounts could not immediately be reconciled.

But security forces and a SWAT team arrived, sealed the area and fought with the armed men, killing all the attackers and freeing all hostages, officials said.

Police and medical officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, say the gunmen set off a vehicle bomb at the entrance to the mall on Monday before moving in.

Baghdad’s highly fortified Green Zone, home to a number of foreign embassies and most of the country’s political elite, was shut down soon after.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group Monday claimed responsibility for the suicide attack targeting a crowded mall in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, which killed at least seven people, the group said in an online statement.

The gunmen were still holed up in the shopping centre in Baghdad al-Jadida, a police colonel said, adding that it was feared the attackers were wearing suicide belts.

Another deadly attack was carried out in the town of Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles (90 kilometers) north of Baghdad in Diyala province.

At least four police officers were reportedly among those killed.

The security situation in Iraq has drastically deteriorated since June 2014, when bloody clashes broke out between security forces and IS militants.