Baghdad, August 01: A roadside bomb wounded at least two people near a Sunni mosque as worshippers gathered for dawn prayers on Saturday, police in the central Iraqi town of Hilla said.
The blast targeted the al-Sahaba Mosque in the neighbourhood of Jarf al-Sakhr, police there told the German Press Agency dpa. One of those wounded included a member of a Sunni, government-allied Sahwa, or “Awakening” militia.
Saturday morning’s attack followed five, apparently coordinated attacks on Friday against Shiite mosques in Baghdad, most of them connected to the movement of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. At least 30 people were killed in those attacks and at least 100 others wounded, police said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks in a statement released soon after.
“Attacks against places of worship cannot be justified by any political or religious cause,” Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement. “These attacks appear to be aimed at provoking sectarian strife and undermining stability in Iraq.”
—-Agencies