20 Jul 2013

20 killed by bomber in mosque

1:11 pm on 20 July 2013

A suicide bomber inside a Sunni mosque in Iraq killed at least 20 people and wounded about 40 more on Friday.

The BBC reports the explosion was in the Abu Bakr al-Sadiq Mosque in the town of Wajihiya in Diyala province.

Witnesses said the bomber detonated his explosives as the imam was giving his sermon.

"I was sitting near the imam and the mosque was full of dozens of people when a big explosion happened, and the place went completely dark," said Omar Mundhir, who was injured in the leg.

"I found myself on the ground at the hospital later, with many other wounded," he told AFP.

A provincial official said all the casualties were civilians.

Worshippers leaving a Sunni mosque in Muqdadiyah, near Baquba, were targeted on Tuesday. Four people were killed and 15 wounded.

At least 15 people were killed in the bombing of a Shi'ite religious hall in north Baghdad earlier this month.

The death toll for the first 19 days of July has already surpassed the total for the entire month of June.