Gunmen kill 3 in coffee shop near Iraq's capital

A total of three people were killed and another wounded Tuesday in an attack by unknown gunmen in a coffee shop north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a police source said.

The attackers opened fire from their assault rifles on many civilians inside the popular coffee shop in Tarmiyah area, some 30 km north of Baghdad, and shot dead three people and wounded the fourth one before they fled the scene, Major Hassan al-Rubaie told Xinhua.

The security forces rushed to the scene and launched investigation into the incident, the source said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for attacks targeting security forces and areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.

The security situation in Iraq has been dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.

However, small groups and individuals of extremist militants melted or regrouped in urban and rugged areas, and are carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.