6 killed in Baghdad Shiite mosque blast

A bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad killed six people and wounded 18 others, a police source said on Wednesday.

The attack took place around midnight when an improvised explosive device went off outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad northeastern neighborhood of Husseiniyah, a police officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

It occurred during the holy month of Ramadan as many Muslims spend their daylight fasting and keep worshipping and socializing to late hours of Ramadan's nights after they break their fast on the sunset.

The attack reportedly followed another bomb attack after the sunset that targeted another Shiite mosque in the city of Tuz- Khurmato, some 170 km north of Baghdad, killing three worshippers and wounding 12.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in five years, raising fears that the latest bloodshed is bringing the country back to a full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007, when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.