BAGHDAD -- The Islamic State extremist group attacked a battalion of state-sponsored militia southeast of Tikrit on Friday, killing at least eight militia members, an intelligence official said.
RELATED ARTICLE
http://www.arkansas…">Pakistan response lethal
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency.
The statement said extremist fighters had struck the 9th Battalion of the Popular Mobilization Forces, "killing its commander and 13 soldiers."
The statement also said Islamic State fighters blew up the battalion's headquarters and other nearby positions and destroyed two Humvees that had arrived to assist the battalion.
The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief reporters.
The Popular Mobilization Forces are state-sponsored militias, largely comprised of Shiite Muslims, battling the Islamic State across the country.
Also Friday, a police officer and medical sources said the death toll from a car bomb attack in a southern Baghdad neighborhood has reached 59, with 66 others injured.
Authorities initially said the Thursday night attack at an auto dealership in the al-Bayaa neighborhood killed at least 55 and wounded more than 60. The Islamic State group claimed credit for the bombing.
The police officer and medical personnel spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
The Islamic State, in a statement early Friday, said its fighters detonated bombs in a parked car among a gathering of Shiites in the Fifth Police District Thursday. It did not give further details.
The extremist group has carried out near-daily attacks in Baghdad despite suffering military setbacks elsewhere in the country, including in the northern city of Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been waging a major operation since October.
The spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiites Grand Ayatollah, Ali al-Sistani, expressed his condolences for the victims' families and called on those "responsible for decision-making to recognize their responsibility to preserve security."
His comments were delivered at Friday prayers by his representative, Ahmed al-Safi, in the holy city of Karbala.
The U.S. State Department condemned the bombing, saying such attacks show the extremist group's "utter contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people."
Farhan Haq, a spokesman for the United Nations secretary-general, too, condemned the attack in a statement issued Friday, which also conveyed "solidarity to the people of Iraq in resisting attempts to spread fear, intimidation and hatred."
Another four attacks in and around Baghdad on Thursday killed eight people and wounded around 30, authorities said.
The bomb attacks claimed by the Islamic State are seen as an attempt to distract attention as the militants cede territory along front lines in northern and western Iraq.
Meanwhile in Washington, the Pentagon said Friday that a monthslong campaign to isolate and pressure the Islamic State's self-declared capital of Raqqa, Syria, is paying off as the administrative backbone of the militant organization is beginning to crack.
Islamic State leaders "are beginning the process of leaving Raqqa and moving their operations farther downriver," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
He said an unspecified number of Islamic State "bureaucrats" are heading east along the north bank of the Euphrates River toward Deir el-Zour, because they see "the end is near in Raqqa."
"We are seeing now an exodus of their leadership," Davis said, adding: "This seems to be a very organized, orderly withdrawal of a lot of their noncombatant support people."
Davis did not predict an imminent collapse of the militant group, and analysts said they expect a tough fight for the Syrian city.
The U.S.-led coalition has been pounding the Raqqa area regularly for months. On Thursday it conducted 17 strikes near the city, targeting two Islamic State military staging areas and an Islamic State combat unit, according to the U.S. Central Command's daily airstrike tally.
Information for this article was contributed by Robert Burns of The Associated Press.
A Section on 02/18/2017