Armed attack on cafe leaves 13 dead in northern Iraq

At least 13 people were killed Friday in an armed attack on a café in the northern Iraqi province of Saladin, police said.

Twenty-three others were injured when three attackers stormed the coffee shop in Balad city and opened fire on the crowd, police officer Muhsin al-Ubaidi, told Anadolu Agency.

The incident comes a day after five Iraqis lost their lives in suicide bombings claimed by the Daesh terrorist group in Abu Ghraib city, west of Baghdad.

Earlier this week, at least 89 people were killed and scores were injured in Baghdad in a series of bombings for which Daesh claimed responsibility.

Iraq has been dogged by rampant insecurity since 2014, when Daesh overran the northern city of Mosul and declared a self-styled “caliphate" in parts of Iraq and Syria.