Four Killed in Mosque Bombing in Central Iraq

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040109/ts_nm/iraq_mosque_dc

<snip>BAQUBA, Iraq (Reuters) - At least four people were killed and dozens injured by a bomb blast during Friday prayers at a Shi'ite mosque in the central Iraqi town of Baquba, hospital sources said.


Local police and witnesses said the bomb exploded outside a small mosque in a residential area. Officials at a nearby hospital said they knew of 39 people injured.

It was not clear whether it was a car bomb.

Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, is in a largely Sunni Muslim area which is a hotbed of resistance to the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq (news - web sites). U.S. forces have mounted major operations in and around the town to try to capture insurgents.

[leftchick]

1. BBC reporting 5 Dead....

<"A gas cylinder with explosives inside was put on a bicycle and left near the mosque," police Sergeant Haki Ismail Mustafa said.

The explosion shattered windows and set fire to cars outside the mosque.

Television footage showed wailing women trying to cover body parts in the street near a blazing car.

US forces are investigating the blast, Reuters news agency reported.

There have been a spate of attacks on mosques in Iraq in recent months.>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3382547.stm