Iraq ground offensive looms as Baghdad bomb kills 14

A top US envoy said Iraqi troops would begin a major ground offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the coming weeks, as a suicide bomber killed 14 people in Baghdad Feb. 9.

ISIL spearheaded an offensive that swept through large areas north and west of Baghdad last June, and Iraqi forces are battling to regain ground with support from US-led air strikes.
      
Jordan announced it has carried out dozens of strikes against the jihadists since Thursday, as it seeks to avenge an airman burned alive by the group.
      
John Allen, the US coordinator for the anti-ISIL coalition of Western and Arab countries, said Sunday that Iraqi troops would begin a major ground offensive against the jihadists "in the weeks ahead".
      
"When the Iraqi forces begin the ground campaign to take back Iraq, the coalition will provide major firepower associated with that," he told Jordan's official Petra news agency.
      
Iraqi forces have already carried out operations near Baghdad and in Diyala and Salaheddin provinces north of the capital.
     
The militants were stopped short of the capital in June and have since been pushed back, but can still carry out deadly attacks.
      
On Monday, a suicide bomber attacked Baghdad's Shiite-majority Kadhimiyah district, killing at least 14 people and wounding at least 43, officials said.
      
The bomber struck near pavement vendors in the district's crowded Aden Square, an AFP journalist reported.
      
Blood stains were still visible on the ground.
      
It was the second suicide bombing to hit the capital in three days. On Saturday, an attack inside a restaurant in the Baghdad Jadida area killed at least 23 people.
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