As Iraq Reels Under Terror Attacks, PM Sacks 3 Security Chiefs

Iraq PM sacks security chiefs as new attack kills 40 in Baghdad

• The Iraqi premier sacked three Baghdad security chiefs following a devastating bombing in the capital, hours after another attack to the north left 40 dead, his office said today.
  

• Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office also confirmed that he had accepted the interior minister’s resignation, which was submitted following the Sunday bombing in Baghdad that killed 292 people.
  

• The Islamic State jihadist group said it carried out the latest attack – on a Shiite shrine in the town of Balad – as well as the blast in Baghdad. In what was one of the deadliest attacks ever to 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.
  

• In Friday evening’s attack in Balad, militants targeted the Sayyid Mohammed shrine, 70 kilometres (45 miles) north of Baghdad, Joint Operations Command spokesperson Yahya Rasool told AFP. It killed 40 people and wounded 74, health ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Rudaini said. The shrine was attacked with mortar fire, then by suicide bombers wearing security force uniforms, according to the spokesperson.