Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack at a mosque in eastern Baghdad
Bomb kills 7 at mosque in Baghdad
Death toll expected to rise after bomber targets Shia mosque in the Baladiyat neighbourhood of eastern Baghdad.
Friday 21/06/2019
Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack at a mosque in eastern Baghdad
BAGHDAD - A bomb blast killed seven people at a Shia Muslim mosque in eastern Baghdad on Friday and wounded more than 20, police sources said.
The explosion took place in the Baladiyat neighbourhood. A senior police source said that either a suicide belt or improvised explosive device had been used in the attack, for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The source said the death toll was expected to rise with many of those wounded in serious condition.
It was a rare attack on a Shia place of worship in the Iraqi capital.
Sunni extremists carried out high-profile bombings of Iraqi Shia sites during the worst of the country's sectarian violence after the US invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Baghdad's security improved significantly with the defeat of Islamic State in 2017 and bomb attacks of any kind in the city have been rare since then.