BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Around 55 people were killed in Iraq in attacks on Saturday that targeted a Shi’ite Muslim gathering, a police check-point and the family of a Sunni paramilitary leader opposed to Islamic State, according to security and medical sources.

The escalation comes as Iraqi forces are getting ready to launch an offensive to take back Mosul, the last Iraqi city still under control of Islamic State, in northern Iraq.

The heaviest toll was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated an explosive vest in the middle of a Shi’ite gathering in Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding 33.

The explosion went off inside a tent filled with people taking part in Shi’ite Ashura rituals, which mourn the killing of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein in the 7th century.

Islamic State claimed the attack in an online statement.

Some people were also in the tent to mourn the death of a local resident, authorities said. The tent was set up in a crowded market in the city’s northern al-Shaab district.

Gunmen believed to belong to Islamic State, a Sunni group, earlier in the day staged two attacks north of Baghdad, one targeting a police check-point and the other the house of a Sunni militia chief who supports the government, police sources said.

Eight policemen were killed and 11 others wounded in the first attack which took place Mutaibija, south of the city of the city of Tikrit, while the militants had three dead in their ranks.

In the second, the wife and three children of Numan al-Mujamaie, the leader of the Ishaqi Mobilization militia, were killed when gunmen stormed his house in the town of Ishaq in his absence.

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The assailants fled, chased by security forces, and later killed themselves by detonating explosive belts, police said.

Islamic State has intensified bomb attacks in government-held areas this year as it loses territory to U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias.

The group claimed a truck bombing in July that killed at least 324 people in the Karrada shopping area of Baghdad - the deadliest single attack in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. </s> A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest in the middle of a Shi'ite Muslim gathering in Baghdad, killing at least 31 people and wounding about 30 on Saturday, police and medics said.

The explosion went off inside a tent filled with people taking part in Shi'ite Ashura rituals, mourning the killing of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein in the 7th century.

Some people were also there to mourn the death of a local resident, said authorities.

The tent was set up in a crowded market in the city's northern al-Shaab district. </s> ISIS: Terror group claims attack in southern Iraq kills at least seven

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

An attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a police checkpoint in southern Iraq left at least seven people dead on Sunday, officials said.

Gunmen wearing suicide vests and driving an explosives-laden vehicle opened fire on the checkpoint near the town of Qadisiyah, which lies around 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Baghdad.

"The security forces fought back, killing the attackers and blowing up the car," an interior ministry statement said.

"They were planning to head to Najaf to blow themselves up there," interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said, referring to a holy Shiite city around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the north.

Maan said seven people were killed by the attackers and 15 wounded. He said five policemen were among the dead.

The military commander for the area, Major General Qais al-Rahaima, gave the same death toll and said at least 11 were wounded.

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

Najaf is considered a religious capital for Iraq’s Shiite majority and has always been seen as a major potential target for IS, which views Shiites as heretics.

The jihadist group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in a statement that said five of its suicide attackers had been killed and putting the number of victims killed and wounded at 100.

The group had also claimed twin bombings at a market area in central Baghdad on Saturday that left at least 27 people dead and more than 50 wounded.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed six people near Iraq’s holy city of Kerbala on Monday at the start of a major Shi’ite Muslim ritual, an attack claimed by the hardline Sunni militants of Islamic State.

The bomber blew himself up west of the city where hundreds of thousands of Shi’ites were gathering to mark Arbaeen, which comes at the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad.

Security forces killed five of the bomber’s accomplices before surrounding him in a house where he detonated the device in the rural area of Ain al-Tamr, the ministry added.

Islamic State said in a statement it had planned to target Shi’ites, police and army personnel.

Huge crowds visit the shrines of Hussein and his half-brother Abbas in Kerbala, where they were killed in the 7th century AD, in a revolt against the Umayyad ruler Yazeed.

Islamic State says Shi’ite Muslims are apostates and has regularly attacked their mosques and events. </s> An attack claimed by the Islamic State group on a police checkpoint in southern Iraq left at least seven people dead on Sunday, officials said.

Gunmen wearing suicide vests and driving an explosives-laden vehicle opened fire on the checkpoint near the town of Qadisiyah, which lies around 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of Baghdad.

“The security forces fought back, killing the attackers and blowing up the car,” an interior ministry statement said.

“They were planning to head to Najaf to blow themselves up there,” interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said, referring to a holy Shiite city around 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the north.

Maan said seven people were killed by the attackers and 15 wounded. He said five policemen were among the dead.

The military commander for the area, Major General Qais al-Rahaima, gave the same death toll and said at least 11 were wounded.

Jihadist attacks in the overwhelmingly Shiite south of Iraq are rare but there have been infiltrations from the western desert of Anbar in recent months.

Najaf is considered a religious capital for Iraq’s Shiite majority and has always been seen as a major potential target for IS, which views Shiites as heretics.

The jihadist group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in a statement that said five of its suicide attackers had been killed and putting the number of victims killed and wounded at 100.

The group had also claimed twin bombings at a market area in central Baghdad on Saturday that left at least 27 people dead and more than 50 wounded. </s> ISIS Claims Responsibility for Truck Bomb Attack That Killed at Least 60 in Iraq (ABC News)

A truck bomb left dozens dead and injured in an attack apparently targeted at Shia religious pilgrims on Thursday in the Iraqi city of Hilla -- 60 miles south of Baghdad.

The exact death toll is uncertain. Iraqi police have said that 60 people have died and 25 are wounded, while the head of the Babylon provincial security committee told ABC News earlier that more than 70 were killed and 20 wounded. The White House said "initial reports indicate at least 80 people" are dead.

Falah al-Radhi, the provincial security chief, told ABC News that many of the dead were Iranian Shia pilgrims who were taking part in an Arba'een pilgrimage -- an annual religious event in the holy city of Karbala.

Iraqi and Afghan citizens were also among the wounded and dead, according to police officials.

ISIS, which is associated loosely with Sunni Islam, took credit for the attack in a short statement made through its Amaq News Agency.

Al-Radhi said that a fuel tanker was used to attack a gas station near the city of Hilla. Police officials said the blast was so big that it destroyed most of the gas station and damaged buildings 150 yards away from the epicenter.

The U.S. State Department said that initial reports stated that some of the victims were sitting together and enjoying a meal when the attack happened.

The White House condemned the attack, saying: "The United States extends its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims, as well as to all of Iraq, for this senseless violence, which was clearly intended to stoke sectarian tensions."

The State Department echoed the White House, saying it condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms." The department added: "These murders are yet another example of Daesh's contempt for human life and its efforts to sow discord and division among the Iraqi people."

Arba’een commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Traditionally, the event sees Shia observers march from Baghdad to Karbala on foot. According to Euronews, tight security measures had been enacted for this year’s events, with soldiers, ambulances and armored cars escorting pilgrims along the route.

The attack is the latest in a string of deadly bombings across Iraq this year perpetrated by ISIS and aimed at followers of Shia Islam.

In July, an attack on a commercial district reportedly killed more than 300. Car bombings in May reportedly left around 100 dead. In March, an attacking using a fuel tanker truck -- as is the case in today's attack -- left at least 47 dead in Hilla, according to BBC News. And in February, twin suicide bombings killed 70 people in a Shia-dominated district of Baghdad, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Faiq reported from Baghdad, Iraq, while Blake reported from New York. ABC News’ Lena Masri, John Parkinson and Kirit Radia contributed to this report. </s> The Islamic State launched multiple attacks in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities at the turn of the year that have killed scores of people.

At least 35 people were killed and dozens of others wounded by an explosion in a packed square in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad on January 2.

The blast from a car bomb occurred at an intersection in the northeastern Shi'ite neighborhood of Sadr City and reportedly struck a place where many day laborers wait for jobs.

In another attack in Samarra, 100 kilometers north of Baghdad, officials said multiple gunmen wearing suicide vests took over two police stations late on January 2, killing at least seven policemen. Security forces said they regained control after killing six militants.

IS, which has been locked in a bitter battle with government forces for control of the northern city of Mosul, claimed responsibility for both attacks via its Amaq news agency.

Other IS attacks in Baghdad in recent days targeted predominantly Shi'a areas.

Three bombs killed 29 people in the capital on December 31 and an attack by two suicide bombers at a checkpoint the following day in the southern city of Najaf -- a holy city for Shi'a -- killed at least eight people.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP </s> The shooting took place in the North Nazimabad neighborhood of the sprawling metropolis of more than 18 million people, where sectarian, ethnic and political violence is common.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi's Al Alami faction, which targets Shi'ites and Pakistan's security forces, killed more than 60 police cadets in the southwestern city of Quetta on Monday in an attack in conjunction with Islamic State.

But it said it carried out this attack on its own.

"Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al Alami accepts responsibility for those killed in this attack, and we announce that there is no room for the enemies of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad in Pakistan," said Ali bin Sufyan, the group's spokesperson, in a statement.

Provincial police chief Allah Dino Khwaja told reporters men on two motorcycles fired on the gathering.

Four people were killed and another three wounded, Nasir Aftab, a senior police officer, said.

Violence and crime has dropped significantly in Karachi since the launch of a paramilitary operation in the city three years ago, but targeted attacks still occur frequently.

Shi'ite Muslims make up about 20 percent of Pakistan's 190 million people, and sectarian attacks against them - including bombings and targeted attacks - have become increasingly common in recent years.

Since 2002, more than 2,500 Shi'ite Muslims have been killed in such attacks, according to data gathered by the South Asia Terrorism Portal. At least 23 people have been killed in such attacks this year, it said. </s> Suicide attacks kill 20 people in eastern Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Suicide bombs at two marketplaces in Baghdad, one of them claimed by Islamic State, killed at least 20 people on Sunday, police and medics said, the latest in a spate of militant attacks in the Iraqi capital that have left dozens dead.

In the first blast, the attacker drove an explosives-rigged car into a large vegetable market in the mainly Shi'ite district of Jamila, and detonated it after security forces opened fire to try to stop the vehicle, police sources said.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up a few hours later at a market in the mostly Shi'ite Baladiyat district.

The first blast killed 13, and the second blast killed seven people. More than 50 were wounded.

Islamic State claimed carrying out the first attack in an online statement, saying the bomber had targeted "a gathering of Shi'ites" in Jamila.

A series of attacks in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities have killed more than 80 people in just over a week.

Several have been claimed by the Sunni extremist Islamic State, which is coming under increasing pressure from a U.S.-backed offensive in Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq.

Iraqi forces advanced to within several hundred metres of the Tigris river than runs through Mosul on Saturday, as their operation against the militants gathers pace.
Attacks targeting a Shi'ite Muslim gathering, a police check-point, and the family of an anti-Islamic State Sunni paramilitary leader, kill at least 55 people in Iraq.