AMMAN, Jordan — The extremist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of shooting attacks in Jordan that killed nine Jordanians and a Canadian tourist.

The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant Internet traffic, forwarded the Arabic-language claim to reporters on Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear where the claim was released.

Sunday's shootings took place in the central Jordanian town of Karak.

Linda Vatcher, a 62-year-old from Newfoundland, was killed in the attack. She had recently travelled to the Middle East to spend Christmas with her son, Chris, who was reportedly working as a teacher in the region.

Hours after the initial attack, four gunmen were shot and killed by Jordanian security forces during a standoff at Karak Castle, a Crusader fortress and tourist destination.

The Islamic State claim said that "four soldiers of the Caliphate" armed with and hand grenades carried out the attacks.

The group set up a self-declared "caliphate" in parts of Syria and Iraq after seizing the territory in 2014. </s> The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group claimed responsibility behind the deadly suicide attack on a mosque in Kabul city.

The group issued a statement in Arabic via its media wing ‘Amaq’ news agency and claimed that the attack was carried out by its suicide bomber on a Shi’ite mosque in the city.

The Taliban militants group earlier rejected that the group is involved in the attack.

At least 32 people were killed and 85 others were wounded after the suicide bomber detonated his explosives among the worshipers in Baqir-ul-Olum mosque in west of Kabul city this afternoon.

The officials in public health ministry confirmed that 85 people wounded in the attack were taken to hospitals for treatment.

This is the second deadly attack the ISIS terrorist group is claiming responsibility for within the past one and half month.

At least 18 people were killed and 36 others were wounded after a group of gunmen belonging to ISIS terrorist group stormed into Sakhi shrine in Kabul city last month.

The attack on Sakhi shrine was carried out as hundreds of mourners had gathered in the area to observe the Ashura day.

The group earlier claimed the attack on a major demonstration in Kabul that left at least 85 rally participants dead and scores of others wounded.

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS </s> At least 50 people have been killed and over 80 more injured in a pair of gun and car bomb attacks in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, Reuters reports, citing health officials. Iranian media said that among the victims were Iranian pilgrims.

In the first attack, a group of three or four gunmen entered a restaurant off the Dhi Qar highway and began shooting at random, hitting at least fifty people, several media reported.

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Shortly afterward two suicide bombers, including one driving a car rigged with explosives, blew themselves and the car up at a security checkpoint nearby, Iraqi officials told AFP.

The survivors are being treated at the al-Batha and Nasiriyah hospitals, but due to the nature of some of the injuries the death toll is expected to rise, the director of the city's Health Directorate, Jasim al-Khalidi, told Reuters.

Jassem al-Khalidi, a senior health official, told the TV channel that more than 87 people had sustained injuries in the attacks.

The majority of casualties are expected to be Iranian pilgrims, provincial governor Yahya al-Nassiri told AP, who were sat inside the restaurant at the time of the first attack.

Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the attacks through it’s propaganda wing, the Amaq Agency.

Nasiriyah is the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate, which has a large Shiite population. Shiites and other ethnic and religious minorities have often been targets of Sunni militants in Iraq, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). </s> Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – At least 22 Iraqi people were killed and wounded in a random shooting spree in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in the latest of several terrorist attacks against civilians in this war-torn country.

“The attack occurred late on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen randomly opened fire at civilians in a remote village in Baghdad’s al-Tarmia district, leaving eight dead and 14 others wounded,” a security source told Alghad Press Wednesday.

“The troops immediately rushed to the shooting scene and sealed off all entrances and exits of the district,” the source noted. “A manhunt was launched in search of the attackers, who fled the scene after the shooting.”

Meanwhile, the Iraqi security media council denied in a statement all reports on the spread of terrorist gangs in al-Tarmia, stressing that the district is fully under the control of security forces.

The Iraqi capital has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary troops and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake Islamic State-occupied areas in 2016.

Though most of the daily bombings go without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State is expected to be behind many.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq last December, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country. </s> At least 50 people have been killed and over 80 more injured in a pair of gun and car bomb attacks in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, Reuters reports, citing health officials. Iranian media said that among the victims were Iranian pilgrims.The survivors are being treated at the al-Batha and Nasiriyah hospitals, but due to the nature of some of the injuries the death toll is expected to rise, the director of the city's Health Directorate, Jasim al-Khalidi, told Reuters.Jassem al-Khalidi, a senior health official, told the TV channel that more than 87 people had sustained injuries in the attacks.The majority of casualties are expected to be Iranian pilgrims, provincial governor Yahya al-Nassiri told AP, who were sat inside the restaurant at the time of the first attack.Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the attacks through it's propaganda wing, the Amaq Agency.Nasiriyah is the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate, which has a large Shiite population. Shiites and other ethnic and religious minorities have often been targets of Sunni militants in Iraq, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). </s> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility on Thursday for a blast in Baghdad, saying a suicide bomber had detonated an explosive vest in the northeastern Sadr City district of the Iraqi capital and killed eight people.

“He, thanks to God almighty, entered into a gathering of infidels ... and detonated his vest, killing eight and wounding more than 10 others,” the group said in a statement. </s> The Islamic State (Isil) has claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack by gunmen and suicide bombers on Iran’s parliament and the the shrine of Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Iranian Revolution.

Teams of attackers struck the two sites in Tehran early on Wednesday morning, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens of others, according to Iranian state media. If confirmed that Isil was behind the attack, it would be their most ambitious operation yet against Iran.

One suicide bomber blew themselves up at the Khomeini shrine, which is highly symbolic for Iran’s theocratic leadership. A second bomber later detonated their explosives at the parliament during a stand off with security forces.

Isil’s Amaq news agency released a short statement soon after the attacks saying: “Fighters from the Islamic State attacked the shrine of Khomeini and the Iranian parliament building in the centre of Tehran.”

The jihadist group claimed credit with unusual speed and released a video of the attackers inside the parliament building. </s> Shooting and car bomb attacks claimed by ISIL kill at least 50 people in southern Thi Qar province.

At least 50 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in twin gun and car bombing attacks near the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, local officials said.

The attacks in the southern province of Thi Qar on Thursday started with unidentified gunmen opening fire inside a restaurant on the main highway that links the capital Baghdad with the southern provinces.

Shortly afterwards, an explosives-laden car targeted a security checkpoint in the same area.

"The toll has now reached 50 dead and 87 wounded," Abdel Hussein al-Jabri, deputy health chief for the mainly-Shia province of Thi Qar of which Nasiriyah is the capital, told AFP news agency.

He warned that the death toll could rise as several of the wounded were in critical condition.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks, according to the group's Amaq news agency.

Yahya al-Nassiri, provincial governor, told AP news agency that majority of the dead are expected to be Iranian visitors who were inside the restaurant.

Thi Qar is located about 320 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.

The latest attacks follow a series of setbacks that ISIL has faced at the hands of US-backed Iraqi forces.

In July, Iraq retook control of Mosul, a key ISIL stronghold on the north, after a campaign of nearly nine months.

ISIL still controls the town of Hawija in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and western areas in the country's largest province of Anbar. </s> At least 50 people have been killed and over 80 more injured in a pair of gun and car bomb attacks in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, Reuters reports, citing health officials. Iranian media said that among the victims were Iranian pilgrims.

In the first attack, a group of gunmen entered a restaurant off the Dhi Qar highway and began shooting at random, hitting at least 50 people, local media reports.

Shortly afterward two suicide bombers, including one driving a car rigged with explosives, blew themselves and the car up at a security checkpoint nearby, Iraqi officials told AFP.

The survivors being taken to the al-Batha and Nasiriyah hospitals, Press TV reports.

Jassem al-Khalidi, a senior health official, told the TV channel that more than 87 people had sustained injuries in the attacks.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks. Nasiriyah is the capital of Dhi Qar Governorate, which has a large Shiite population. Shiites and other ethnic and religious minorities have often been targets of Sunni militants in Iraq, including al-Qaeda and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claims responsibility for the shootings.