Bombs Outside Mosques in Baghdad Kill at Least 27

[sabra]

Source: NY Times

BAGHDAD — Bombs exploded outside five Shiite mosques around Baghdad within 45 minutes on Friday as worshipers attended prayer services, killing at least 27 people in what appeared to be a coordinated attack against followers of the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, Iraqi officials and a Sadr aide said.

The bombs, which initial reports indicated had been hidden just outside the mosques, tore through the Friday calm in predominantly Shiite working-class neighborhoods, three of them on the east side of the city, one in the south and one in the north.

A total of 63 people were reported wounded in the attacks, all of which took place between 12:45 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., according to a statement released by the Interior Ministry.

Officials said that highest death toll was outside the mosque in the north, in the district of Shaab. Once controlled by a militia loyal to Mr. Sadr, the mosque had in recent years been taken over by the national police, so Sadr loyalists pray outside in the street. Initial reports indicated that 21 people died there, and 35 were wounded.

Shortly after the bombing, prayer mats, beads, shoes and umbrellas used for shade from the midday sun were scattered along the street. Women wailed. Witnesses said the explosion had been caused by a bomb hidden in a car on a road where several hundred people had gathered to pray.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/world/middleeast/01iraq.html?hp

[Supersedeas]

1. Bush's legacy in blood continues to flow

[No Elephants]

2. "If you break Iraq, you own it."