PhotoBAGHDAD — More than 50 people were killed Saturday in Iraq in attacks that struck a Shiite Muslim gathering, a police checkpoint and the family of a Sunni paramilitary leader opposed to the Islamic State, security and medical officials said. The attacks took place as Iraqi forces were preparing to launch an offensive to take back Mosul, the last Iraqi city still under control of the Islamic State in the northern part of the country. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement. Some people were also in the tent to mourn the death of a local resident, the authorities said. The Islamic State has increased the number of bombings and attacks in government-held areas this year as it loses territory to Iraqi government forces backed by the United States and Shiite militias supported by Iran.

Source: New York Times October 15, 2016 15:00 UTC