First al Qaeda attack on Iranian target in Iraq leaves 18 dead

Al Qaeda gunmen Friday shot dead 18 people – 15 Iranians and three Iraqis – who were working on a gas pipeline from Iran to Iraq near Baladruz, northeast of Baghdad. DEBKAfile: The attack was conducted by the Iraqi branch of al Qaeda (ISIS), which is led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, as spillover into Iraq of the war it is waging on Iran in Syria.