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 Shiite gathering in Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and wounding 33. Islamic State claimed the attack in an online statement. 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.

Source: Huffington Post October 15, 2016 13:30 UTC