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ISIS Attacks at Factory North of Baghdad Kill 11 | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Smoke rises from gas storage tanks after a bomb attack against a state-run cooking gas factory in Taji at Baghdad’s northern outskirts, Iraq May 15, 2016. REUTERS


BAGHDAD- ISIS claimed to be responsible for the bomb attacks against a factory in Baghdad’s northern outskirts on Sunday. The attacks lead to the death of 11 people, at least, including policemen, in addition to 21 others who remain wounded, police sources said.

A suicide car bomb went off at the entrance of the facility in Taji at around 0600 local time (0300 GMT), allowing another vehicle carrying at least six attackers with explosive vests to enter the facility where they clashed with security forces, the sources said.

One employee who works at the factory and also lives nearby stated that he saw flames and a black smoke following a powerful blast.

Three of the facility’s gas storages were set alight amid the violence before security forces were able to bring the situation under control, according to a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command.

According to the eye-witness, number of army vehicles accompanying policed, rushed to the facility where shooting lasted for about an hour.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Saturday the militants were taking advantage of a political crisis in the country, sparked by his attempt to overhaul its quota-based governing system, to conduct bombings in areas under nominal government control.

Further, Amaq news agency, known for supporting ISIS, said the group’s militants were behind the attack. The militants, who control swathes of the country’s north and west, have also carried out bombings this week that have killed around 100 people.