Baghdad • The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for a Baghdad mall attack Monday that killed 18 people. Gunmen stormed into the Jawhara Mall after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance.
Iraqi officials say the attack lasted over an hour, killed at least 18 people and wounded 50 in the city's mainly Shiite east.
The IS statement, posted online shortly after the attack, said a car bomb and four IS fighters carried out the attack, targeting an area where many Shiite Muslims are known to gather and warned of "worse" to come. Iraqi officials say the attack was carried out by seven men, one of whom died when he detonated his explosive vest at the start of the attack. The conflicting accounts could not immediately be reconciled.
Iraqi forces soon surrounded the building and landed troops on the roof. They clashed with the attackers inside, killing two of them, and arresting the other four. At least four police officers were among those killed in the assault. After the attack, authorities shut down the city's highly fortified Green Zone, home to a number of foreign embassies and most of the country's political elite.
Iranian soldiers carry coffins with the remains of Iranian soldiers who were killed during the 1980-1988 eight-year war between Iran and Iraq at the border crossing of al-Shalamjah, Iran, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The remains of 94 Iranians were returned to their native country Monday during a ceremony at a border checkpoint near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
Iranian soldiers carry coffins with the remains of Iranian soldiers who were killed during the 1980-1988 eight-year war between Iran and Iraq at the border crossing of al-Shalamjah, Iran, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The remains of 94 Iranians were returned to their native country Monday during a ceremony at a border checkpoint near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
Iraqi security forces inspect the scene of the attack at a mall in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. Gunmen stormed into a Baghdad mall on Monday after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance, killing at least a dozen people in the citys mainly Shiite east, Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo)
The wreckage of a car sits in front a mall in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. Gunmen stormed into a Baghdad mall on Monday after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance, killing at least a dozen people in the citys mainly Shiite east, Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo)
Flames rise from an attack on a mall in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. Gunmen stormed into a Baghdad mall on Monday after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance, killing at least a dozen people in the citys mainly Shiite east, Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo)
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