A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shiite mosque in central Iraq on Thursday, killing 10 people, amid nation-wide violence that left 16 dead, including senior police and army officers. The violence comes with just months to go before US troops must withdraw completely from the country, and as a series of American officials have passed through Baghdad this month to press Iraq to decide on whether it wants an extended US military presence.
In Thursday's deadliest attack, a suicide attacker detonated his payload amid a crowd of worshippers inside the Imam al-Hussein mosque in Baladruz, around 75 kilometres (50 miles) north-east of Baghdad, according to a colonel in the provincial security command. At least 10 people were killed in the attack, which occurred at around 8:15 pm (1715 GMT), and 30 others were wounded. All of the victims were men.