A suicide bomber on Thursday attacked a large Shiite mosque in Diyala Province, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens, according to an Iraqi security official. Sunni and Shiite clerics were meeting in the mosque at the time as part of an effort to show that tensions between the groups had subsided.
It was the fifth attack on the Imam Hussein mosque in the past five years. The authorities say they believe that the attack was planned by insurgents seeking to disrupt the recent stability in the Balad Ruz district, where the mosque is located, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize his access to delicate information.