Shi'ite militias open fire in Iraqi mosque, killing 30 Sunnis

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Shi'ite militias open fire in Iraqi mosque, killing 30 Sunnis

BY RAHEEM SALMAN AND ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ
BAGHDAD Fri Aug 22, 2014 8:48am EDT

(Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite militiamen opened fire on minority Sunni Muslims in a mosque on Friday, killing dozens just as Baghdad is trying to build a cross-community government to fight Sunni Islamists whose rise has alarmed Western powers.

One Iraqi security source said 30 people had been killed when the militias attacked the mosque in Baquba, capital of Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, on the Muslim day of prayer. Some witnesses put the death toll higher.

The bloodbath marks a setback for Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, from the majority Shi'ite community, who is seeking support from Sunnis and ethnic Kurds to take on the Islamic State insurgency that is threatening to tear Iraq apart.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/22/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0GM0L620140822

[BeyondGeography]

1. Prayer day

Don't stop believing, guys.

[CJCRANE]

2. This is what the neocons want.

A self-fueling fire.

Throw in western forces and we'll have a conflagration that could last for quite some time.