IRAQ: Bomb kill at least three and injure seventeen near mosque northeast of Baghdad

Record ID: 488875

  • Title: IRAQ: Bomb kill at least three and injure seventeen near mosque northeast of Baghdad
  • Date: 23rd August 2013
  • Summary: BAQUBA, NORTHEAST BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 23,2013) (AGENCY POOL) WIDE OF MOSQUE TARGETED BY BLAST CLOSE UP OF MOSQUE MOSQUE SIGN READING "Al-SAHEED (MARTYR)FARHAN MOSQUE" PEOPLE WAITING AT HOSPITAL WOUNDED MEN LYING ON HOSPITAL BEDS WOUNDED MAN LYING ON BED CLOSE UP OF WOUNDED MAN
  • Embargoed: 7th September 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA1B4WL9MLLU9JMEKO2XEF1P4I
  • Story Text: Three people were killed on Thursday (August 22) and 17 others injured when a bomb went off near a mosque northeast of Baghdad.
    The blast took place west of the city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
    Footage from Friday (August 23) showed the injured being treated in hospital while funerals were held for the dead.
    "The bomb was planted exactly to target the entrance to the mosque. It was some 15 to 20 metres away. It happened when I left the mosque with my relatives in my car. Thank God, that my car has become more like a shield that protected the worshipers. My car was hit by some 500 ball bearings. If it had not been for the car that was between worshipers and the bomb, a massacre would had happened and no less than 100 worshipers could have been killed," one man said speaking at his relative's funeral.
    Sunni Muslim militant groups, including al Qaeda, have stepped up their insurgency against Iraq's Shi'ite-led government in the past four months, raising fears of a return to full-blown sectarian conflict 18 months after U.S. troops left.
    Since the start of the year, attacks using multiple car bombs have become an almost daily occurrence. Religious holidays have failed to stem the slaughter, as bombers at the weekend targeted families celebrating the end of the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan.
    Each of the past four months has been deadlier than any in the last five years, dating back to when U.S. and government troops were engaged in battles with militiamen.
    The civil war in neighboring Syria, which has stoked sectarian tensions across the Middle East, has boosted Sunni insurgents in Iraq who are also benefiting from general discontent in the minority Sunni population.
    The Interior Ministry said security forces were cracking down on "hotbeds of terrorism" outside Baghdad, raiding bomb-making factories and recruitment centers for suicide bombers.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register