MaxShimba
JF-Expert Member
- Apr 11, 2008
- 35,772
- 4,054
By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer Chelsea J. Carter, Associated Press Writer 8 mins ago
BAGHDAD A suicide bomber who hid among the Sunni congregation in a northern Iraqi mosque sprayed gunfire at Muslim worshippers Friday and then blew himself up, killing at least 15 people, including the imam leading prayers, officials said.
The brazen attack is the latest against Sunni clerics who have increasingly spoken out against al-Qaida in Iraq since U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of June. The clerics and others fear militants could take advantage of the transition to step up the kind of sectarian attacks that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war two years ago.
The man who opened fire in the mosque in Tal Afar first shot the imam, Abdul-Satar Hassan, before turning his AK-47 assault rifle on worshippers, witnesses said. He detonated his explosives only after running out of ammunition.
Ninety-five people were wounded in the attack, said Ismail Majeed, a doctor at Tal Afar hospital. Hassan, a member of Iraq's largest Sunni political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, was among the 15 people killed, he said.
BAGHDAD A suicide bomber who hid among the Sunni congregation in a northern Iraqi mosque sprayed gunfire at Muslim worshippers Friday and then blew himself up, killing at least 15 people, including the imam leading prayers, officials said.
The brazen attack is the latest against Sunni clerics who have increasingly spoken out against al-Qaida in Iraq since U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of June. The clerics and others fear militants could take advantage of the transition to step up the kind of sectarian attacks that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war two years ago.
The man who opened fire in the mosque in Tal Afar first shot the imam, Abdul-Satar Hassan, before turning his AK-47 assault rifle on worshippers, witnesses said. He detonated his explosives only after running out of ammunition.
Ninety-five people were wounded in the attack, said Ismail Majeed, a doctor at Tal Afar hospital. Hassan, a member of Iraq's largest Sunni political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, was among the 15 people killed, he said.
