63 killed in Baghdad mosque blasts (Third Lead)

BAGHDAD - At least 63 people were killed in a series of blasts targeting Shia mosques in Baghdad Friday, security and hospital sources said.

Officials said 180 people were injured in the blasts.

Most of the blasts took place near Shia mosques where people had gathered for Friday weekly prayers.

Influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared an official mourning period of three days, and called on Iraqis to help in transporting the injured victims to hospitals.

At least 35 people were killed and 70 injured in two blasts in al-Sadr city, police sources said. A car bomb went off targeting people praying, while a suicide bomb attack targeted people in a market.

Two car bombs also detonated in the al-Horriya and al-Rahmaniya areas, while another bomb targeted the Hussayneyet al-Sadrein mosque in al-Zaafaraneya.

Another explosive device went off inside a shopping mall in the al-Dora area, and a suicide bombing also occurred near a mosque in the al-Amin area.

The seven Baghdad bombings came hours after seven bombs shook the mainly Sunni town of al-Khalidiya, 80 km west of the capital, killing eight people, including seven from one family, and injuring 10.

The bombs went off next to the houses of two businessmen, a judge and police patrols in al-Khalidiya.

One of the blasts killed a businessman, his wife and their five children, security sources said. A police officer was also killed after another bomb exploded when he arrived at the scene.

Iraqi observers believe the bombing series could be an act of revenge by Al Qaeda terrorists, after Iraqi and US forces killed several of the terror network’s leaders over the past few weeks.