Another suicide car-bombing struck Iraq on Monday, killing 24 and injuring almost 70.
The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for a suicide car-bomb attack in Baghdad’s Sadr City district in which 24 people were killed and close to 70 injured.
According to the Amaq news agency, an outlet with apparent ties to the Islamic State, the bombing took place at a gathering of Shiite Muslims. As an extremist Sunni Islamic sect, ISIS considers all Shiites to be infidels.
Outgoing French President Francois Hollande landed in Iraq on Monday for a brief trip to salute the many French troops stationed in the war-ravaged country in order to participate in the international coalition against ISIS.
“Everything that contributes to reconstructing Iraq is an additional step to avoiding (ISIS) strikes on our own territory,” Hollande said.
Since the summer of 2014, ISIS has managed to control large portions of Iraq along the Euphrates River, including significant urban areas such as Mosul. The Islamic terrorist group has lost a lot of territory in recent weeks, including in Mosul, due to a heavily fought campaign by the Iraqi army.
In Syria, at least 22 ISIS fighters were killed on Monday in Turkish and Russian aerial operations.
Turkey and Russia worked together to frame a ceasefire agreement in Syria that excluded ISIS and al-Qaeda. Both countries have espoused a desire to cooperate with each other in implementing the ceasefire, despite their opposing interests in the region.
By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News