11 killed, 21 injured in suicide bomb attack on gas plant near Baghdad

A suicide attack left at least 11 people dead at a gas plant north of Baghdad on Sunday. The eight attackers blew up a car bomb at one of the entrances to the Taji plant, about 20km (12 miles) north of the capital. This alllowed another vehicle carrying at least six attackers with explosive vests to get into the facility where they fought with security forces. Officials blamed the attack, which left at least 21 people wounded, on the Islamic State group.

Daesh (IS) is turning to targeting civilian facilities in cities after losing the battle on the front.

Col Mohamed al-Bidhani

Three of the facility’s gas storages were set alight amid the violence. One employee who lives nearby said he heard a powerful blast before seeing flames and black smoke coming from inside the factory. Dozens of police and army vehicles rushed to the facility where shooting lasted for about an hour, he said. On Saturday, a group of IS fighters snuck into Amriyat al-Fallujah, a government-held town west of Baghdad, in a similar suicide raid that killed five people. The group also claimed responsibility for a spate of bombings in Baghdad that killed close to 100 people on Wednesday.

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