BAGHDAD- A wave of attacks in Iraq, including a suicide bombing at a mosque in Baghdad, killed 27 people Tuesday, the latest in a protracted surge in bloodshed.
In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a mosque in central Baghdad’s Shorja neighbourhood as worshippers were performing ablutions ahead of mid-day prayers.
At least 19 people were killed and 34 wounded in the blast at the Abu al-Timan Husseiniyah, near the headquarters of the Baghdad mayoralty, security and medical officials said. Security forces barred journalists from taking photographs or videos of the aftermath of the scene, a common occurrence in the wake of deadly violence in the capital.
Elsewhere in the capital, roadside bombs in the neighbourhoods of Sadr City and Dura left two people dead. And a series of shootings and bombings in the main northern city of Mosul killed six others.
Tuesday’s incidents pushed the death toll for the year above 4,000 as near-daily violence and battles with militants in western Iraq have fuelled fears the country is slipping back into the all-out conflict that plagued it in 2006 and 2007.
Violence has surged in the past year to its highest level since 2008, while anti-government fighters also control an entire city a short drive from Baghdad and parts of another.
The authorities have trumpeted security operations against militants, but attacks have continued unabated on a daily basis across Baghdad and much of the north and the west of the country.