Urgent/ 12 killed, 16 wounded in Babel explosion

BABEL / IraqiNews.com: The explosion that took place in al-Musayab district in Babel earlier on Friday killed 12 persons and injured 16 others, a security source said. “The preliminary reports assert that the blast was implemented by a suicide bomber carrying Afghan nationality,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “The casualties rose to 12 deaths and 16 wounded,” he added. A security source had said earlier that the explosion that took place in a Shiite mosque in al-Musayab district before the Friday prayer killed eight, including a woman, and injured 18. Babel, a Shiite province that lies 100 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an area of 6,468 square kilometers (2,497.3 sq mi), with an estimated population of 1,385,783 people in 2003. The provincial capital is the town of al-Hilla. The ancient ruins of Babylon ( Babil , after which the region is named) are also in the province. SH (P) 1