DHAKA: Eighteen people were killed in the Iraqi town of Ain al-Tamer, southwest of Baghdad, by five attackers armed with suicide vests, rifles and grenades.

A member of the local council and a source at the provincial health directorate confirmed the death toll in the attack.

It occurred late on Sunday (August 28, local time) leaving at least 26 more people were also wounded, reports the Al Jazeera.

Officials said the attackers opened fire in a neighborhood of Ain al-Tamer at around 18:30 GMT on Sunday, although it was not immediately clear what their target was.

Head of the central Euphrates operations command Qais Khalaf said “They were carrying Kalashnikovs and hand grenades. One of them blew himself up and the others were killed by the security forces”.

Five members of the same family were among the dead, according to a health official from Karbala province.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ain al-Tamer lies about 50km west of the holy city of Karbala.

BDST: 2039 HRS, AUG 29, 2016
NJ/BD