The “Islamic State” (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group slaughtered at least 14 Real Madrid fans at a supporters club in northern Iraq, Daily Mail reported May 13.
Advertisement
According to Iraqi officials, three gunmen armed with machine guns opened fire into the crowded Balad cafe and once police arrived at the scene, two of the attackers detonated their suicide vests.
A suicide attack on a football match in the city of Iskandariya left at least 32 dead in March, with the bomber blowing himself up as a trophy was being handed to the winners.
“My thoughts go out to the Real Madrid fan club attack victims in Iraq”. A Reuters witness saw the scorched body hanging upside down from a post outside the café on Friday morning.
Friday’s attackers had passed three police checkpoints before reaching their target, said police sources who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. One Report Says That One of the Terrorists Was Burned Alive by Residents of the Town4.
In what may have been an act of retribution, the Iranian-backed Badr Organization, a Shiite militia, took 13 members of a Sunni family prisoner.
They claimed that “the very youngest innocent members of the association” were targeted in the attack in Iraq, describing them as martyrs – and praying “for the wounded to heal”.
The country is also struggling with a political crisis over a cabinet overhaul that has crippled the government for weeks and seen protesters storm parliament buildings.
A 22-year-old victim named Tahseen told a doctor he had been smoking a water pipe when a man wearing civilian clothes and a bandolier filled with ammunition crossed the street towards the al-Furat Cafe.
Advertisement
The UN says that over 700 Iraqis – a lot of them civilians – died last month, and over 1,300 were wounded.
