Suicide bombing at Baghdad mosque

Three suicide bombers dressed as women killed at least 71 people at a Shi'ite mosque yesterday, the bloodiest attack in Iraq for at least three months. At least 140 people were also wounded in the attack in north Baghdad, the latest proof of how Iraq's leaders have been unable to tackle sectarian violence as they struggle to form a government.

"This is a cowardly act. Every time I see these bloody scenes it tears apart my heart," said fireman Jawwad Kathim, holding a severed finger. A police official said the bombers were dressed in traditional Shi'ite women's black robes when they struck, two inside the mosque and one just outside.

Some police sources said all of them were women, others that two were men. Men screamed as bodies of victims were taken on wooden carts to ambulances at the complex, which belongs to SCIRI, the most powerful group inside Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Alliance. People picked up pieces of flesh and placed them on trays. "The Shi'ites are the target and it's a sectarian act.

There is nothing to justify this act but black sectarian hatred," said SCIRI leader Jalal al-Deen, who was at the mosque during the explosions. He said he had counted 65 bodies. He accused some Sunni newspapers of inciting violence by publishing reports that the mosque contained a detention centre where Sunnis were abused.

It was the biggest suicide attack on a Shi'ite target since last November, and the worst attack overall since at least January 5 when suicide bombers killed around 70 people in Ramadi.