Shiite mosque blast kills 7, wounds 30

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: Seven persons on Saturday were killed and 30 others were wounded when a car bomb went off outside a Shiite mosque near Kirkuk city, according to a local police chief. “Casualties from the car bomb blast that occurred in front of al-Rasoul Mosque in Taza district (30 km south of Kirkuk city) reached seven dead and 30 wounded persons,” Brig. Sarhad Qadir told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The explosion caused severe damage to the mosque and nearby buildings,” the official explained, noting that the toll is likely to increase further. The attack was the second to hit the province within hours. Earlier today, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted the convoy of Col. Abdullah Qadir, a police director in Kirkuk, wounding two civilians. Kirkuk, an oil-rich and mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians, and Arabs, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. SS (P) 1