ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide blast and a roadside bombing that targeted Shiites in Baghdad Friday, killing a total of 26 people and wounding dozens. The attacks came as Iraqi Kurdish militias, backed by U.S. airstrikes, seized the town of Sinjar from ISIS in a major blow to the extremists. The suicide bomber struck a memorial service held for a Shiite militia fighter killed in battle against ISIS in the Iraqi capital's southwestern suburb of Hay al-Amal, a police official told the Associated Press. That explosion killed 21 people and wounded at least 46, he said. The militia fighter was killed in battle against the militant group in Iraq's western Anbar province, the official added. Also Friday in Baghdad, a roadside bomb detonated at a Shiite shrine in Sadr City, killing at least five people and wounding 15, police officials said. Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to reporters. Since the emergence of ISIS extremists, Baghdad has seen near-daily attacks, with roadside bombs, suicide blasts and assassinations targeting Iraqi forces and government officials, with significant casualties among the civilian population. The violence has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of Iraqis. Shiite militia fighters answered a call to arms last year after the country's highest Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on Iraqi men to defend the country. The militias, which later formed an umbrella paramilitary force called the Popular Mobilization Forces, have been an integral part in the battle against ISIS, supporting Iraqi forces in battles in Salahuddin, Anbar and Baghdad provinces. In a statement distributed on pro-ISIS Twitter accounts, the militant group said the aim of Friday's attacks was "revenge for our monotheist brothers in Fallujah, Anbar, and Salahuddin," referring to ongoing Iraqi military operations to retrieve land lost to ISIS in those locations.
