19 September 2013 - 19:30
Mosque Blasts Kill 18 in Iraq

Two bombs tore through worshippers gathering for prayers at a mosque in Iraq on Friday, killing 18 people, while three died in other attacks, officials said.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The bombs, which hit the Musab bin Omair mosque near Samarra, north of Baghdad, also wounded 21 people, police and a doctor said.

"A huge explosion happened, and everything around us was thrown in the air," a number of injured confirmed.

Militants have carried out numerous attacks on mosques this year, raising fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict, which peaked in 2006-2007 and killed thousands of people.

Also on Friday, mortar rounds killed a young girl west of Samarra and wounded two members of her family.

And gunmen kidnapped and killed a soldier in the northern province of Kirkuk, while a roadside bomb north of the city of Baquba killed one person and wounded three.

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, killing more than 4,200 people since the beginning of the year.

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