Mosque Suicide Bombing Kills 28 Iraqis

At least 28 people, including a member of parliament, were killed on Sunday when a suicide bomber dressed as a beggar blew himself up inside Baghdad’s largest Sunni mosque. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the Umm Al-Qura mosque, but suicide bombings are usually employed by the local al-Qa’ida affiliate Islamic State of Iraq, whose officials accuse of trying to foment sectarian tensions to destabilize the government. At least 13 other people died in a series of attacks in Basra, Fallouja and Baghdad over the weekend amid a surge of violence as the last U.S. troops prepare to evacuate from Iraq by year’s end. Sunday’s bombing was the most serious attack since August 15 when 70 were killed in a series of suicide bombings, car-bombs and roadside explosives.