Final toll of Shiite mosque blast reaches 155

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: The final toll of the blast that occurred earlier today in front of a Shiite mosque near Kirkuk city have reached 155, according to a local medic. “Thirty-five persons were killed and 120 others were wounded according to a final count,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Earlier today, a senior security official said that casualties from the blast that occurred in front of al-Rasoul Mosque in Taza district (30 km south of Kirkuk city) reached 20 dead and 80 wounded persons. The blast occurred while worshippers were leaving the mosque. The attack is 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