Suicide bomber kills 12 worshippers in N Iraq

At least 12 Iraqi worshippers were killed and up to 25 others injured on Friday in a suicide bombing inside a Sunni mosque in a town near the volatile city of Mosul, the capital of Iraq's Nineveh province, an interior ministry source said.

The blast occurred when a bomber detonated his explosive belt among worshippers inside the al-Taqua Mosque in the Hasan Ko'iee neighborhood in the town of Tal Afar, some 70 kilometers west of Mosul during Friday's noon prayers, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi security forces immediately cordoned off the area to secure the scene while ambulances rushed victims to nearby hospitals, the source said.

Mosul, some 400 kilometers north of Baghdad, is said to be one of the last strongholds of al-Qaida fighters in the war-torn country.

The Nineveh province, also known as Ninawa, has been the scene of a major security crackdown by U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces. The crackdown was aimed at uprooting al-Qaida militants and other anti-U.S. insurgent groups.

Source:Xinhua