Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned Friday’s terrorist attack on a football pitch in Iraq.
The ministry’s spokesperson said in an official statement on Saturday: “Egypt condemns all forms of terrorism which target the unity of Iraq.”
“Egypt supports Iraq in its fight against terrorism,” the spokesperson added.
A suicide bomber blew himself up Friday near a football match in the Iraqi governorate of Babil, killing 26 people and injuring 40. The attack targeted a group of Shi’a in Babil’s Alexandria district in southern Baghdad.
“Islamic State” (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack through its news agency Aamaq.
The group also claimed responsibility for another deadly attack in the Yemeni city of Aden, killing 26 after a car bomb exploded targeting a check point related to pro-Yemeni government forces.
The attack targeted the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen aiming to restore the “legitimacy” of President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi. The collation retook Aden from the Houthis in July 2015.
US secretary of defense Ashton Carter said Thursday that Hajji Iman, a prominent leader in IS, was killed along with others during an air raid of the US-led coalition targeting IS financial facilities in Syria. It is claimed that Iman was responsible for the IS finance activity.
“We are systematically eliminating IS’s cabinet,” Carter said. “Indeed, the US military killed several key ISIL terrorists this week, including, we believe, Hajji Iman, who was an ISIL senior leader serving as a finance minister and who was also responsible for some external affairs and plots.” ISIL is another acronym used for IS.
