BAGHDAD, Iraq – Bombs and mortars struck Shiite and Sunni mosques in the Baghdad area Friday, the latest in a week of tit-for-tat sectarian attacks that have killed more than 250 people.
The deadliest explosion came as worshippers left services at a Sunni mosque in northern Baghdad, killing 14 people and wounding five, police said.
The bomb, planted near the door of the mosque, exploded during a four-hour driving ban starting at 11 a.m. Fridays in the capital, aimed at preventing car bombs that have frequently targeted weekly prayers.
Earlier Friday, five mortar rounds fell near the Shiite Imam al-Hussein mosque in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding six, provincial police said.
Shiite clerics, meanwhile, denounced Israel’s attacks on Lebanon during Friday prayers, and hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated to show solidarity with the Lebanese. Israel began its assault after guerrillas from the Shiite group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a raid inside Israel.
Thousands of Iraqis also demonstrated in the Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad and in the southeastern cities of Kut and Amarah, praising the leader of Hezbollah and denouncing Israel and the United States. Some protesters said they were ready to fight the Israelis.
“No, no to Israel! No, no to America!” demonstrators chanted in Sadr City.
“Let everyone understand that we will not stand idle,” read one of the banners carried by the demonstrators.
“Iraq and Lebanon are calling. Enough silence, Arabs,” read another.
Besides the fatalities in the mosque attacks, police on Friday reported least 34 other violent deaths, including those of 12 Shiites found buried in a common grave in Tal Afar.
The discovery came after the Iraqi army’s 2nd Brigade arrested six terror suspects Friday in Tal Afar, 93 miles east of the Syrian border and 260 miles northwest of Baghdad.
One suspect confessed to killing the 12 civilians and told authorities where they were buried, military official Nejim Abdullah said. Relatives identified the victims as Shiites, he said.
In March, President Bush praised American efforts to stabilize Tal Afar, saying he had “confidence in our strategy” and that success in the city “gives reason for hope for a free Iraq.”
Also Friday, Iraq’s national wrestling team pulled out of a tournament in the United Arab Emirates after its coach was killed in an attack in Baghdad, said sports reporter Sagban al-Rubaie, who was acting as a spokesman for the team.
The Sunni coach, Mohammed Karim Abid Sahib, was seized with one of his wrestlers as they left the sports center to buy some sweets in the northern neighborhood of Kazamiyah, where the team was preparing for the tournament.
He was shot to death while trying to escape; the other wrestler got away, according to police and wrestling officials.
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