Attack kills at least 28 in Baghdad mosque.
An elderly suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body at the largest Sunni mosque in Iraq's capital, in an attack attributed to Al-Qaeda.
An elderly suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body inside Baghdad's largest Sunni mosque on Sunday, killing a member of parliament and at least 27 others in an attack attributed to al-Qaeda. The bombing is part of a wave of violence sweeping the country, which on Sunday left 35 people dead, just days before the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi condemned the attack. Among the dead is Khaled al-Fahdawi, a parliamentarian from the western province of Al-Anbar. Elderly people and children are among the victims. Baghdad Security spokesman Qassim Atta said that everything indicates the explosion was orchestrated by Al-Qaeda. According to him, the fact that the suicide bomber was elderly facilitated his entry into the mosque. The Umm al-Qura mosque is managed by the Sunni religious property authority, and is headed by Ahmed Abdel Ghafur al Samarrai, a Sunni known for his virulent preachings against extremists.
The location is the headquarters of the Sunni Foundation, responsible for maintaining Sunni websites, belonging to the Muslim religion, in Iraq. The violence on Sunday began after Al-Qaeda announced a campaign of 100 attacks, initiated in August, to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden in a US special forces raid in Pakistan in May. This information comes from Dow Jones.