Friday, 18 February 2005Police say a suicide bomber has attacked a Shia mosque in southern Baghdad, causing dozens of casualties.
At least 17 people have been killed and dozens of others injured, unnamed security sources say.
Reports are coming in of a second blast at another mosque in a Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad.
The first blast hit a mosque in the Doura district as people prayed ahead of the holiest day of the Shia calendar, the observance of Ashura.
It follows a period of relative calm in Iraq, rocked by scores of bombings since the end of the war in 2003.
The attacks came as talks were due to get under way among Iraqi political parties to form a new government following January's national poll, which saw Shia parties triumph.
Bomb belt
The bomber mingled with worshippers at the packed mosque in Doura before triggering the blast at about 1300 local time (1000 GMT).
"The attack was carried out by a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt at the Kazimain mosque in Abu Dishr near Doura," a police officer told AFP news agency.
Iraqi security forces have increased security for Ashura to try to avoid last year's bomb attacks against Shia worshippers in Baghdad and Karbala that killed at least 181 people.
Iraq's land borders have been closed until Tuesday.
Sunni militants have vowed to continue targeting Iraq's Shia majority, which is set to take power for the first time in the country's history.
Ashura marks the death 1,300 years ago of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, which widened the split between Sunni and Shia Islam.
Story from BBC NEWS |
Friday, 18 February 2005
Iraq
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