Five killed in Baquba mosque blast

 
Explosion outside Shiite mosque in Baquba kills five, wounds, at least 37 after end of Friday prayers.

 
BAQUBA, Iraq - At least five people were killed and 37 injured Friday in an explosion outside a Shiite Muslim mosque in the town of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, after the end of main weekly prayers, medics said.

"Five people were killed and 37 people injured in an explosion near the Haj Sadek Banin mosque," said Ziad Tarek, a doctor at the general hospital in Baquba, 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Baghdad.

"The explosion took place as worshippers were leaving the mosque," he said, adding that several of those affected were passers-by.

Tarek said some of the injured claimed the blast was caused by a powerful bomb, timed to go off exactly after the conclusion of the prayer session, which has a high attendance on Friday, the holiest day of the week for Muslims.

Another doctor, Sajed Abdallah, said about 20 of the injured required surgery. "Some of them need legs or other limbs amputated," he said.

A correspondent at the scene saw ambulances, their sirens wailing, driving towards the site of the explosion in the town centre, an area of restaurants and shops.

The windows of several stores were smashed and cars near the mosque were damaged.

Baquba, in Diyala province, is populated by a mixture of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, the two main religious groups in Iraq.

---

Print

Printer Friendly Version