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. The Islamic State jihadist group said it carried out the latest attack - on a Shia 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 Eidul-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 Lieutenant General 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 evening's attack, militants targeted the Sayyid Mohammed shrine in Balad, 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Baghdad, Joint Operations Command spokesman Yahya Rasool told AFP. It killed 40 people and wounded 74, health ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Rudaini said. 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. IS issued a statement claiming the attack, saying that five jihadists took part, killing guards at the shrine, then clashing with Iraqi forces for hours before detonating explosives they were carrying. The IS statement did not mention mortar fire. "It is clear the cowardly attack on the shrine aims to spark sectarian tensions and drag Iraq back to the dark days of sectarian conflict," Jan Kubis, the UN's top Iraq envoy, said in a statement. On Thursday, Health Minister Adila Hamoud said the bodies of 115 killed in the Baghdad bombing on Sunday had now been handed over to families, while the identities of 177 others had yet to be determined.
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