An explosion ripped through a Shiite mosque during prayers on Monday in Baghdad, killing at least eight worshippers, while a series of car bombs struck the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, killing 12 people, police said.The attacks highlighted the challenges facing U.S. and Iraqi forces seeking to curb sectarian violence with a five-week-old security crackdown that has led to a drastic drop in execution-style killings but failed to stop the bombings.
The blast in Baghdad occurred about 12:30 p.m., shattering windows and damaging a wall of the small green-domed mosque that is situated among several shops in the central Shorja market area, where a massive truck bomb killed 137 people last month.
Police initially blamed it on a suicide bomber trying to enter the building but later said the blast was caused by a bomb placed in the corner behind the preacher's podium, leaving a crater in the floor. The preacher was among the 32 people wounded, police said, giving the casualty toll.
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