Iranian Media: 20 Killed in Blast at Sh'ite Mosque in Iran
By VOA News
28 May 2009
An Iranian news agency says 20 people have been killed and 55 others wounded in a suicide attack at a Shi'ite mosque in southeastern Iran.
The Fars news agency says Thursday's blast occurred in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province near the Pakistani border.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported a similar toll of at least 15 people killed and another 50 injured.
A provincial governor told state television many people were worshipping in the mosque at the time of the explosion.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.
In 2007, a bomb attack in Zahedan killed at least 11 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards. The militant group Jundallah, which says it is fighting for the rights of Iran's Sunni minority, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iranian security forces and drug smugglers have clashed in the area where the blast occurred.
Campaigning has been under way in Iran in preparation for a presidential election on June 12. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking a second term and faces three challengers.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, and Reuters.
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