Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Fourth attack in a week in Iraq: Suicide bomber kills 22 at Shi'ite mosque

A suicide bomber disguised as a mourner killed at least 22 people inside an Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim mosque today when he set off his explosives in the middle of a crowded funeral.

The latest of four suicide attacks in a week came as Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki faces mounting pressure from mass Sunni protests that threaten to return Iraq to the scale of sectarian violence that killed thousands in 2006-2007.

Dressed in a suit, the bomber mingled with mourners before detonating the blast at the Saif al Shuhada, Sword of the Martyrs, mosque in Tuz Khurmato city at a ceremony for a Shi'ite ethnic Turkman, police and witnesses said.

Panicked survivors packed the injured and dead wrapped in carpets into trucks and cars to rush them to hospital in the religiously and ethnically mixed city 170 km (105 miles) north of the capital Baghdad.

Rigot Mohammed, an Iraqi army spokesman, said at least 22 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in the blast.