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Balad suicide attack: at least 35 killed at Shia sacred site north of Baghdad Balad suicide attack: at least 40 killed at Shia sacred site north of Baghdad
(about 7 hours later)
Islamic State claimed responsibility for a triple suicide attack on Thursday evening near a Shia mausoleum north of Baghdad that killed at least 35 people and wounded 60 others, according to Iraqi security sources. Islamic State suicide bombers reportedly disguised as militiamen tried to storm one of Iraq’s main Shia sites on Thursday night, in the most serious attack on a holy site since the destruction of another Shia shrine a decade ago, which sparked the country’s sectarian war.
The attack on the mausoleum of Sayyid Muhammad bin Ali al-Hadi reignited fears of an escalation of the sectarian strife between Iraq’s Shias and Sunnis. The bombers, aided by gunmen, fought through a marketplace to the gates of the Sayyid Muhammad bin Ali al-Hadi mausoleum in Balad, before blowing themselves up near its main gates, in what Iraqi officials claim was Isis’s most brazen attempt yet to re-ignite sectarian chaos.
The Shia form a majority in Iraq but Sunnis are predominant in northern and western provinces, including Salahuddin where the mausoleum is located. At least 40 people died in the attack and, while the shrine was not damaged, its gates were scorched by the blasts and fire that destroyed the market.
Prominent Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his militia, the Peace Brigade, to deploy around the mausoleum near Balad, about 58 miles (93km) north of Baghdad. Sadr’s militia is also deployed in Samarra, a nearby city that houses the shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi, the father of Sayid Mohammed whose mausoleum was targeted on Thursday. The assault followed a devastating explosion and resulting inferno a week ago that Iraqi officials say killed more than 290 people in central Baghdad. If the final death toll is confirmed as being that high, it will likely rank as the single deadliest attack in Iraq since the war to oust Saddam Hussein 13 years ago.
The attack on the shrine was the first of its kind in recent years. Shia sites were frequently targeted by the forerunners to Isis, particularly when the organisation was run by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who incited sectarian war against Iraq’s majority sect through a spate of similar bombings. Isis is under sustained pressure to hold on to the territory it claimed two years ago, when it rampaged through western and central Iraq, overrunning Mosul, Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah, and menacing Baghdad.
The strike in Balad is being seen in Baghdad as another indication that after losing much of the territory it has held for the past two years, Isis is once again trying to inflame tensions by attacking soft civilian targets and holy sites. Mosul is the only Iraqi urban centre remaining under Isis’s hands, although it retains control of much of Anbar province and the border with Syria. Iraqi forces and Shia militias have spent much of the past year consolidating control of areas near Shia holy sites, fearful that militants may again target them as they did in two devastating strikes against the Imam al-Askari shrine in Samarra in 2006.
Last Saturday’s attack on a shopping district in the central Baghdad suburb of Karada was seen as another throwback to an even more deadly era. Security officials believe that two Isis units that were responsible for devastating bombings in Baghdad in 2009 have been reformed to conduct a series of new atrocities. Those attacks, the first in February of that year and the second in April, led to large-scale bloodletting and mass displacement across Iraq, pitching the two main sects of Islam against each other, just as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of a forerunner to Isis, had envisaged.
Militias and Iraqi security forces have invested enormous resources in protecting Shia shrines across Iraq and the breach of the mausoleum site in Balad was on Friday already causing ramifications, with rival militias Asa’ib ahl al-Haq and Saraya Salam both accusing each other of security lapses. Ten years later, sectarian tensions, which had simmered throughout, have again been tested by the rise of Isis, which carries out regular bombings against Shia targets. The country’s Sunnis, meanwhile, say they have remained severely disenfranchised at the hands of the Shia majority, which will not meaningfully share power with them.
On Friday the prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, announced the sacking of a host of senior security officials in Baghdad, including the general responsible for the capital’s security. The move follows the resignation of the interior minister in the wake of the Karada bombings. However, tensions have not neared the toxic heights of 2006 and political leaders and tribal figures on Friday asked for faith in the government to bring a stop to the attacks.
A 2006 bombing destroyed the golden dome of the shrine of Ali al-Hadi and his other son, Imam Hasan al-Askari, setting off a wave of sectarian violence akin to a civil war. After controlling geographical areas for several years, Isis now appears to be reverting to its old ways, of attacking soft civilian targets, such as the Karrada shopping district – scene of the Baghdad blasts last weekend – and Shia religious sites.
Pictures posted on social media showed a fire burning in the market located at the entrance of the Sayid Mohammed mausoleum. It was not clear if the site itself was damaged. Dr Mustafa al-Sufi, a resident of Balad, who lives near the site of the latest attack said: “There are some people in Balad who are accusing the refugees and the Sunnis of inciting this.”
Most of Iraq’s internally displaced come from Sunni areas that had been besieged by Isis, many of whom have been kept out of Baghdad and have looked for shelter in towns and villages on its outskirts. “But I don’t believe we will get back to the dangers of 2005/06,” Sufi said. “Because there remains some discipline in the street so far.
A tribal leader from Balad, Sheikh Abu Salam Saede said: “They aim to restart sectarian violence. And this is because of the Saudi ambassador and it shall be war to the judgment day if they don’t remove him. This is 100% because of their defeat in Fallujah.”
Security officials believe that two Isis units that were responsible for spectacular bombings in Baghdad in 2009 have been reformed to conduct a series of new atrocities and were responsible for the attack on Karrada.
Ahead of the Balad blast, an Iraqi security official told the Guardian that a Shia shrine would be a likely next target. “This is a sign of [Isis leader, Abu Bakr al-]Baghdadi’s desperation,” he said. “It does not speak to his strength.”
Barbar IŞİD, Irak Balad'da Şiilerin ziyaret ettiği türbeye bombalı araçla saldırı gerçekleştirdi en az 50 kişi öldü! pic.twitter.com/AqjfnqZwEMBarbar IŞİD, Irak Balad'da Şiilerin ziyaret ettiği türbeye bombalı araçla saldırı gerçekleştirdi en az 50 kişi öldü! pic.twitter.com/AqjfnqZwEM
A man detonated an explosive belt at the external gate of the mausoleum at around 11pm, allowing several gunmen to storm the site and start shooting at worshippers on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr festival, according to the security sources. Iranian-backed militia and Iraqi security forces have invested enormous resources in protecting Shia shrines in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala. The breach of the mausoleum site in Balad was on Friday already causing ramifications, with powerful rival militias Asa’ib ahl al-Haq and Saraya Salam both accusing each other of security lapses.
At least one gunman blew himself up in the middle of the crowd while another was gunned down by the guard of the mausoleum before he could detonate his explosive belt. The suicide bombers are believed to have driven into the compound in Balad, which contains the marketplace and shrine, by posing as members of a local militia. Once inside, they attacked a small guard force and fought their way to the gates.
The site also came under rocket fire during the attack, which was claimed by Isis. The ultra-hardline Sunni group said in a statement the attack was carried out by three suicide bombers wearing explosive belts. On Friday morning, the prime minister, Haider al-Abadi announced the sacking of a host of senior security officials in Baghdad, including the general responsible for the capital’s security. The move follows the resignation of Iraq’s interior minister in the wake of the Karrada bombings.
The rare burst of accountability was met with wariness by many in Baghdad, who have become disillusioned over years of attacks, which residents partly blame on official incompetence. After officials persisted in using fake British-made bomb detectors for the past decade, Abadi finally ordered them removed from checkpoints across Iraq earlier this week and ordered a shelved corruption inquiry into their procurement to be reopened.
“That will never happen,” said Mustafa Saad, an engineer from the Baghdad suburb of Baladiyat. “There are too many people invested in making sure that their deeds are not exposed. At least soldiers will have to look for bombs with their eyes now.”
Additional reporting by Saud al-Murrani