15 September 2017 12:29 pm
DAILY MAIL, 14 September, 2017
More than 50 people have been killed and at least 80 wounded in a double suicide bomb attack in southern Iraq, allegedly carried out by Islamic State militants.
ISIS-linked terrorists attacked a restaurant and a police checkpoint on a highway near the city of Nassiriya, Dhi Qar province, police and medical sources said.
One attacker detonated his explosive vest inside the restaurant south-west of the city, while three to four other attackers opened fire at the people inside.This attack was followed by two suicide bombers, including one driving an explosives-laden car, at the police checkpoint nearby.
Yahya al-Nassiri, the governor of Dhi Qar, says the majority of the dead are expected to be Iranian pilgrims who were inside the restaurant.
Dhi Qar is dominated by Shia Muslims, a group that ISIS - who are Sunni Muslim - deem apostates, or heretics.
Police said the death toll could rise as several of the wounded were in a critical condition. Shiite Muslim-dominate Dhi Qar province is located about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. Bomb attacks in southern Iraq, where the bulk of the country’s oil is produced, are relatively rare.