Iraq

Twelve killed in mosque blast

Article published on the 2009-10-16 Latest update 2009-10-16 13:12 TU

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) welcomes his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Baghdad International Airport on Thursday
(Photo: Reuters)

Twelve worshippers died on Friday when a suicide bomber shot dead a prayer leader and then blew himself up in a mosque near the northern city of Mosul.

The attack, which took place in a Sunni Arab mosque in Tal Afar on the Muslim holy day of prayer, left 67 people wounded.

"Some of the wounded have very serious injuries, and some of them are undergoing surgery," Dr Hanni Mohammed at Tal Afar Hospital told the AFP news agency.

According to witnesses and security officials, when the mosque's imam began to speak, the attacker pulled out a gun and shot him, then set off a belt full of explosives as other worshippers tried to tackle him.

"As the imam took his place and began to speak, someone in a black jacket pulled out a gun and killed him, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' [God is great]," said Mohammed Othman, who suffered chest and head injuries in the blast.

"When the people went after him, he blew himself up."