BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber on Thursday attacked a large Shiite mosque in Diyala Province, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens, according to an Iraqi security official. Sunni and Shiite clerics were meeting in the mosque at the time as part of an effort to show that tensions between the groups had subsided.
Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog ?It was the fifth attack on the Imam Hussein mosque in the past five years.
The authorities say they believe that the attack was planned by insurgents seeking to disrupt the recent stability in the Balad Ruz district, where the mosque is located, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize his access to delicate information.
“I heard the sound of a big explosion, and then winds of fire came towards me and they hit my chest and pushed me for meters inside the mosque and I lost my consciousness,” said Bassam Jasim, 40, in an interview at a local hospital where he was being treated. His arm was wounded in the attack.
A police officer at the scene, Capt. Mohammed al-Ettibi, said: “You can smell the burned bodies. It’s so strong that you can smell it from 100 meters away.”
There had been about eight months of relative calm in the district after years of violence among Shiites, Sunnis, Turkmens and Kurds. Although violence has significantly decreased in Iraq over the past two years, it has spiked in recent weeks. Recent attacks included the assassinations of local politicians and law enforcement authorities.
In the northern province of Kirkuk on Thursday, a car bomb exploded, killing a local police chief, three of his guards and two others. Twelve people were wounded in the attack.
American and Iraqi officials have said they expect violence to increase during the next several months when the United States is scheduled to withdraw all its troops.
Employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Diyala and Kirkuk Provinces.
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