MOSUL, Iraq: A suicide car bomber killed 38 people as they left a mosque just outside the volatile northern Iraqi city of Mosul, officials said Friday, while a series of bombs in Baghdad killed six other Shiites.
Police said 95 people were wounded in the suicide bombing, one of several attacks in recent weeks targeting Shiite gatherings. A week ago a series of blasts outside Shiite mosques in Baghdad killed 31 people.
“I was in the house when this explosion happened. I hurried to the mosque to search for my father in the ruins ... I found him seriously wounded, and took him to hospital, but he died,” said Khalil Qasim, 19, crying.
Mosul authorities urged citizens to donate blood and appealed for construction vehicles to lift debris trapping victims of the attack, which took place in Shreikhan, a majority Shiite Turkmen village just north of Mosul.
Bombings and shootings are reported almost daily in Mosul. The insurgency in Iraq has waned in the last 18 months, but insurgents have been able to hide out in the mountainous areas around Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, and have exploited divisions between Mosul’s feuding Arabs and Kurds.
The dispute in the northern province of Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, threatens to split the province and inflame tensions that could threaten Iraq’s long-term stability.
“There are parties that seek to create chaos inside Mosul by dragging Iraq into sectarian fighting,” Nineveh Gov. Atheel Al-Nujaifi said.
Many Iraqis also fear attacks on Shiites may re-ignite the sectarian slaughter between Sunnis and Shiites that has only abated in the last 18 months. Tens of thousands have been killed in the bloodshed since the US-led invasion in 2003.
“These bombings are an attempt to return Iraq to square one,” said analyst and professor Hameed Fadhel. “I expect these attacks to rise the closer we get to the elections. The coming months will be a very critical time for Iraq,” he added, referring to national elections due in January.
Politicians are in the throes of discussing coalitions, and violence may make cross-sectarian alliances difficult.
In Baghdad, roadside bombs exploded as minibuses carrying Shiite Muslims home from Kerbala passed by. Roadside bombs struck two minibuses in separate incidents in the poor Baghdad district of Sadr City and another roadside bomb struck a minibus in east Baghdad, a hospital source said, killing a total of six and wounding 24.
Meanwhile, the Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to extend the UN civilian mission in Iraq, commending the country’s efforts to strengthen democracy but stressing the need to improve security and human rights.
A resolution adopted by the council reaffirmed the UN mission’s importance in assisting the government to hold elections and in advising the government and Iraqi people on strengthening democratic institutions and advancing national reconciliation.
