After battlefield defeats, IS hits softer targets

SULAIMANIYA - Militants launched a coordinated series of bombings and suicide attacks deep inside several government-controlled areas of Iraq on Monday, signaling what could be a renewed embrace of asymmetric tactics by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).

In the most high-profile incident, gunmen and bombers attacked a mall in Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 25, according to a senior Interior Ministry official. Militants also hit targets farther north, with suicide attacks in Diyala province's Muqdadiya and Khanaqin, as well as four bombings in towns within the southern border of the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) security cordon.