Police: 28 killed in bombings near Baghdad mosques

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-31 21:19

The son of Monther al-Tamimi, mourns by his body outside a hospital in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, July 30, 2009. [Agencies]

BAGHDAD: Bombs exploded near five Shiite mosques in Baghdad, killing at least 28 people, in an apparent coordinated attack that targeted worshippers leaving Friday prayers, Iraqi police and hospital officials said.

The bombings shattered a period of relative calm in the Iraqi capital, raising to at least 303 Iraqis killed in what has been one of the least deadly months in Iraq for both Iraqi civilians and US troops since the war began. Seven American troops have been killed — the lowest monthly total since the war started in March 2003, according to an AP tally.

The attack also underscores concerns about the abilities of Iraqi security forces to maintain security gains now that US troops have withdrawn from major urban areas. Some Sunni insurgents still seek to re-ignite sectarian violence with the majority Shiites and reverse Iraq's security gains in the past two years.

The deadliest attack Friday came when a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Shaab, killing at least 24 people and wounding 17 others, said two Iraqi police officials and a medical official.

At about the same time, near simultaneous explosions struck near the al-Rasoul mosque near the Diyala bridge, in southern Baghdad, killing four worshippers and wounding 17 others, the two police officials said.

A roadside also bomb exploded near al-Hakim mosque in Kamaliyah area in eastern Baghdad, wounding six worshippers.

Bombs also exploded near Imam al-Sadiq mosque in the religiously mixed neighborhood of Ilam in southwestern Baghdad, wounding 4 worshippers, and near the al-Sadrain mosque in the Zafaraniyah area of southeastern Baghdad, wounding seven worshippers.

The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Only two months — both this year — have seen fewer Iraqis killed since the AP began tracking war-related fatalities in May 2005. There were 242 deaths in January and 225 deaths in May.

But US commanders say security gains are fragile and reversible, and the Iraqi government needs years of further assistance.

US commanders have also warned attacks could escalate ahead of national elections next year. The United States has about 130,000 forces in Iraq, with current plans calling for most combat forces to remain in the country until after the Jan. 16 vote.

Then, under a timeline set by President Barack Obama, all combat troops will withdraw from Iraq by August 2010.

Questions about the Iraqi security forces were heightened earlier this week, when they clashed violently with residents of a camp north of Baghdad for exiled Iranians. Iraqi officials confirm at least seven people were killed and spokesmen for the exiles say hundreds were injured in two days of intense skirmishes.

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