24 killed, 77 wounded in Iraq mosque bombing

Baghdad: At least 24 people were killed and 77 others wounded in a bomb blast during Friday prayers at a Sunni mosque in Iraq, police said.

The attack occurred around midday at the Abu Bakr al-Sideeq mosque in Wajihiyah in the eastern province of Diyala, police told Xinhua.

CNN said the bomb was hidden under a podium from which an imam was speaking in the mosque and it exploded while worshipers were listening to a sermon.

Sectarian killings between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the volatile province of Diyala have seen a rise recently.

Diyala, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the border with Iran, has long been a volatile area since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

IANS