Bombings in Baghdad's Shi'ite Mosques Kill 28
By VOA News
31 July 2009
Iraqi police say a string of bombings at Shi'ite mosques in Baghdad has killed at least 28 people and wounded more than 130 others.
Police say at least six apparently coordinated blasts hit mosques around the capital just as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers.
The deadliest attack happened in Baghdad's northern Shaab district, where a car bomb killed at least 21 people outside a Shi'ite mosque.
No group has claimed responsibility, but Sunni militants and al-Qaida terrorists have targeted Shi'ite religious gatherings in the past.
A statement from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks and said they appeared to be aimed at provoking sectarian strife.
Although violence in Iraq has dropped sharply during the past year, attacks increased in June ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities.
On Thursday, two bomb attacks killed at least 13 people, including a blast targeting a Sunni political party in Baquba.
Police say eight people were killed and 10 wounded in an explosion inside the headquarters of the Reform and Development Party in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, around the time some party members were holding a meeting.
In western Iraq, police say a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle, killing at least five people and wounding 15 others. Authorities say the attack happened close to a police station in al-Qaim near the Iraq-Syria border.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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