15 killed in suicide bombing at Baghdad Shiite mosque

Up to 15 people were killed and 30 wounded in a suicide bomb attack at a Shiite mosque in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source said.

The attack occurred around midday when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden vest among worshippers at a mosque in al- Qahira district in northern Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The toll of the attacks could rise as ambulances, civilian and police vehicles were evacuating the victims to different hospitals and medical centers in the city.

Violence and sporadic high-profile bomb attacks are still common in the Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.