MOSUL - A suicide bomber driving a truck attacked a mosque near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul as Friday prayers ended, killing at least five people and wounding 70, police and health officials said.The mosque where the bomber detonated his explosives belonged to the Shabak minority in Mosul, 390km north of Baghdad. “A suicide car bomber targeted a Shabak mosque in Mwafaqiya village,” said Hanin Qaddo, a local Shabak leader. “Part of the mosque building collapsed over the heads of the worshippers as they were leaving.”
The site of FridayÂ’s blast is near disputed territories at the centre of a feud between BaghdadÂ’s government and the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north, which runs its own government and armed forces.
Insurgents have carried out at least one major bombing a month since Americans troops left in December. July was the bloodiest month in two years, including one day of attacks that left more than 100 dead.