Worshippers die in Iraq mosque attack

Also on Friday, a dozen men wearing Iraqi police uniforms snatched a Sunni Arab cleric from his Baghdad home, while abducted Jill Caroll, the US reporter, appealed to supporters in a new tape to do whatever necessary to secure her freedom.

The car which targeted the Iskan al-Shaabi mosque was parked about 10 metres from the place of worship in the southern Dora neighbourhood when it exploded after 1pm, shattering glass in the building and causing casualties inside and outside, said police Lt Thaer Mahmoud.

At least eight people were killed and 21 wounded,
according to Dr Muhannad Jawad of Yarmouk General Hospital.

Earlier, police spokesman Lt Mohammed Khayoun said most of the victims were attending the main weekly Muslim prayer service.

Marines killed

The US military announced on Friday that two American Marines were killed a day earlier after their patrol was attacked by a roadside bomb near the one-time anti-US stronghold of Falluja, 65km west of Baghdad.

Their deaths took the number of US military personnel killed to at least 2269 since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

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