Muslim worshippers gunned down

2006-09-27 22:27

Baghdad - Gunmen in two cars sprayed automatic fire into a crowd of worshippers heading for a Sunni mosque in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing 10 of them and wounding 11 more, a security official said.

Attackers struck as worshippers gathered at the Mushahada Mosque in a flashpoint district in the west of the city on the faultline between districts inhabited by the bitterly divided Sunni and Shi'ite communities, he said.

The drive-by slaughter had all the hallmarks of Shi'ite death squads, whose deadly raids on Sunni communities in the war-torn Iraqi capital have helped push the country to the brink of civil war.

Earlier, a coalition military spokesperson had reported that suicide bomb attacks - usually blamed on Sunni insurgents - had hit their highest level since the March 2003 US-led invasion overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime.

United Nations and Iraqi officials estimate that the fighting kills more than 100 people per day.

Wednesday's attack came as the worshippers were congregating for the traditional two-hour prayer session that marks the end of a day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began this week.

- AFP