IS militants launch simultaneous attacks in northern Iraq

Islamic State, or IS, launched simultaneous attacks Monday in response to the Iraqi forces` recent offensives. A total of 52 people died of IS attacks and more than 100 were injured on the day. Reuters said it was the biggest one-day deaths in the last three months.

The IS`s hostage taking, which occurred at a shopping mall in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, lasted for 90 minutes and resulted in 18 deaths and 50 injuries. An IS troop exploded a bombed vehicle and broke into the shopping mall firing guns and random. More than 50 customers were locked inside. Iraqi military and police were immediately mobilized for combat, and killed two terrorists and arrested four others. At least four policemen died.

Shortly after the attack, a back-to-back suicide attack targeted a cafe in the town of Muqdadiyah, about 90 kilometers north of Baghdad in Diyala province, killing at least 24 people and wounding 52. Also in a crowded area in southeast Baghdad, a car bomb explosion killed at least seven people. Shortly after the attack, IS posted an online statement claiming they were behind the simultaneous attacks.

U.S. and Iraqi militaries are also launching the offensive. They announced Sunday that they eliminated the IS commander in chief in Iraq Asi Ali Mohammad Nasir al-Obaidi who was third ranking in IS, and attacked IS`s cash warehouse in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and burned it into ashes. Mosul is IS foothold within Iraq. U.S. military reconnoitered the building where IS stores cash, which it obtained through crude oil smuggling and plundering, and striked it by using two bombs each weighing 2,000 pounds.

U.S. military has recently focused on blocking source of funds by attacking crude oil facilities, oil transporting trucks and ships. It aimed to prevent IS from functioning as a country.

However, it was found that the U.S. military striked the cash warehouse despite acknowledging that civilians could be sacrificed. U.S. military officials said victims of up to 50 civilians had been judged to be tolerable given the importance of the target, and just five to seven people were sacrificed as the attack was done during night time and dawn.

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