Video: Blasts targeting Sunnis in Iraq kill at least 58

Friday, 17 May 2013 -- Al Aribaya

People gather at the site of a bomb attack in Baquba, about 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Baghdad, May 17, 2013. (Reuters)  

Al Arabiya with AFP  

 

At least 58 people were killed in Iraq after two explosions hit a Sunni mosque another struck a Sunni funeral procession and bomb exploded in a commericial Sunni area in western Baghdad.

The first bomb exploded as worshippers were departing the Saria mosque in the city of Baquba, north of Baghdad. A second bomb later exploded after people gathered at the site of the first blast, claiming the lives of at least 41 people and wounding 57, officials told AFP.

In Madain, south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near a funeral procession for a Sunni man, killing eight people and wounding at least 25, security and medical officials said, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, Iraqi officials told AP that a bomb exploded in a mainly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, killing at least seven people and wounding 20.

The attacks on Friday are the latest in a series of bombing that have targeted Sunni and Shiite places, security forces and tribal leaders, since security forces raided a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk a month ago.

On Thursday, a suicide bomber killed 12 people at the entrance of Al-Zahraa Husseiniyah, a Shiite place of worship in the city of Kirkuk.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has blamed the recent spike in violence on religious intolerance.

“The bloodshed... is a result of sectarian hatred,” Maliki said. “These crimes are a natural result of the sectarian mindset.”

Tensions between the Shiite prime minister’s government and members of the Sunni minority have increased lately as Sunnis accuse Iraqi authorities of targeting their own community.