Attack on Iraqi Shiite shrine kills at least 32

BAGHDAD // At least 37 people were killed and 62 wounded in an attack on a Shiite shrine north of Baghdad on Thursday night.

The attack began with a volley of mortar fire on Sayyid Mohammed shrine and a nearby market in Balad, 80 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital.

A suicide bomber first targeted policemen guarding the entrance to the revered shrine, allowing a second bomber to push into the courtyard with nine gunmen, who targeted security forces and civilians who had gathered inside to celebrate Eid Al Fitr.

A third bomber was killed before he detonated his explosives, police officials said.

The assault comes less than a week after a bombing in central Baghdad claimed by ISIL that killed at least 292 people, fueling anger at the Iraqi government’s security failings.

Prime minister Haider Al Abadi on Friday sacked the head of the Baghdad security command and other officials amid growing public anger over the bombing.

The prime minister’s office said Mr Al Abadi issued “an order to relieve the Baghdad Operations commander of his position, and relieving security and intelligence officials in Baghdad of their positions”.

The head of the Baghdad operations command was Lt Gen Abdulamir Al Shimmari, but the premier’s office did not identify the other officials who were removed.

The interior minister Mohammed Ghabban tendered his resignation following the bombing, and authorities also announced the execution of five convicts and the arrest of 40 extremists in an apparent bid to limit the fallout from the attack.

Mr Ghabban criticised the security system as fundamentally flawed, saying he could no longer accept responsibility for the consequences and calling for a series of changes that would ultimately increase the ministry’s power.

An official in Mr Al Abadi’s office said the premier had accepted the minister’s resignation, though there has been no official statement from him on the matter.

Experts have warned there may be more bomb attacks targeting civilians ISIL is driven out of territory north and west of Baghdad that the extremist group has held since 2014.

* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse