Senseless Attack Against Worshippers
An attack by Shia Muslims on a Sunni mosque killed at least 73 people in a village in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province.
The attack began with a suicide bombing near the mosque entrance. The muslim militants then opened fire inside the mosque leading to scores of dead.
Many speculated the attack could have been in retaliation for a roadside bomb attack at a recruitment event organized by an extremist Shia group.
Since early this year, Islamic State extremist groups have launched terror in the country, and they have seized large areas in the country’s west and north.
United States Condemns Attack on Worshippers in Iraq
In a press statement in Washington DC, Deputy Department Spokesperson Marie Harf expressed strong condemnation of the vicious attack on innocent men, women, and children inside a mosque in the village of Imam Wais in Diyala province.
“The United States stands with the people of Iraq against this violence.” – Ms. Harf
The US pledged that it will continue to support all Iraqi citizens, from all parts of the country, as they work to root out violent extremists from any sector of society, and promote a religiously tolerant, diverse, and unified country, as envisioned in the Iraqi Constitution.
The appalling incident calls for the urgent need for Iraqi leaders from across the political spectrum to take the necessary steps that will help unify the country against all violent extremist groups.
“We express our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of today’s senseless attacks.” -Ms. Harf
ISIL A Threat To Iraq’s Stability
In June this year, Iraq’s notorious rebel fighters seized the country’s second-largest city of Mosul.
The rebel fighters popularly known as the Islamic State of Iraq, or ISIL, made advances in the city where hundreds of rebels launched an assault on Mosul, creating clamor and mass displacements in the city.
Before they gained control of the city, the rebel group took control of the governor’s headquarters and TV stations.
The rebel fighters belong to the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The U.N. headquarters building in Baghdad after the Canal Hotel bombing, on 22 August 2003. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The recent terroristic moves are not something new for ISIL – the group is known for its insurgency operations in Nineveh and other provinces.
Mosul is the second city to be seized by ISIL militants this year. The Iraqi government lost control of Fallujah earlier this year.
With the raging aggression in Mosul, the International Organization for Migration estimates that the number of people displaced by violence in Mosul and surrounding areas of Ninewa governorate in recent days may have reached 500,000.
