Oct 16 Suicide bomber kills 12 worshippers at Iraq mosque

Suicide bomber kills 12 worshippers at Iraq mosque
AP

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By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer Sameer N. Yacoub, Associated Press Writer – 26 mins ago

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber opened fire on worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in northern Iraq and then blew himself up after running out of ammunition, killing 12 people, police and hospital officials said.

The attacker walked into the Sunni mosque in Tal Afar and started firing on worshippers with an AK-47 rifle as the imam was delivering his sermon, a local police official said. Sixty-five people were wounded in the attack. When the shooter ran out of ammunition, he detonated his explosives belt, the official said.

The imam, Abdul-Satar Hassan, a member of Iraq's largest Sunni political party, was also killed in the attack, the official said. It was not immediately clear if the slain imam was the intended victim, although Sunni clerics have increasingly become targets in Iraq's sectarian bloodletting.

Sahir Jalal, 37, who was at the mosque for prayers, said the imam had just begun delivering a sermon when a tall man stood up.

"Then he took out a small rifle from under his jacket and started to shoot," he said.