Seven killed in attack on Shia mosque

Gunmen attacked a Shiite mosque in a town north-east of Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding three.

The attack occurred yesterday at 9pm local time in Bani Saad at the Huseiniyat Bani Saad mosque just south of Baqouba, 35 miles north-east of Baghdad, Diyala provincial police said.

Police said the attack began when six mortar rounds were fired at the mosque, followed by an assault.

Gunmen then planted explosives around the mosque and detonated them, damaging the structure, police said.

The mosque is located in the middle of the town’s open-air market area and is the only Shiite mosque in the town.

The attack occurred in a mixed but volatile region that in recent months has seen horrific acts of sectarian violence.

Jordanian born-terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Sunni extremist who long sought to start a sectarian war in Iraq, was killed just outside Baqouba in an American airstrike on June 7.