A suicide bomber blew himself up at a gathering of Sufi Muslims north of Baghdad, killing 10 people in the latest attack by Iraqi insurgents on religious sects they disapprove of, officials said on Friday.
The bomber detonated his explosives on Thursday evening in a house near the town of Balad as Sufis gathered for a &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2001/09/14/15233.html ' target=_blank>religious ceremony, Interior Ministry officials said.
Sufis follow a form of Islamic mysticism that stresses the need for a personal experience of God. Some conservative Muslims consider them emotional or even heretical.
Sectarian tensions have long been building between Iraq's Shi'ite majority and the Sunni Arab minority that dominated during the rule of &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/main/2002/08/19/34765.html ' target=_blank>Saddam Hussein. But until Thursday's blast, Iraq's small Sufi community had been spared major attacks, tells Reuters.
According to the Boston Globe, the new bloodshed came a day after 48 people were killed in a particularly violent day in Iraq including more than 30 in four suicide bombings raising to at least 825 the number of people slain since the new Shiite-led government was announced April 28.
In the past 18 months, 12,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, including more than 10,000 Shiites, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr said, citing figures from a research center. But he said he analyzed the figures on the basis of areas where the victims lived, not data explicitly stating the branch of Islam to which they belong.
Separately, Australia's top Muslim cleric, who trying to secure the release of 63-year-old Australian hostage &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2005/05/06/59613.html ' target=_blank>Douglas Wood, said he hoped to receive news of the captive's imminent release. He did not elaborate.
Jabr on Thursday claimed the government offensive seeking to root out kidnappers and other militants in Baghdad had scored big gains, saying this week's sweep by Iraqi soldiers and police, known as ''Operation Lightning,'' captured 700 suspected insurgents and killed 28 militants.
The campaign is the biggest since Saddam Hussein's fall two years ago. Iraqi officials have said the operation, which began Sunday, involves 40,000 soldiers and police, though not all are manning positions at any one time. Before the offensive, authorities controlled only eight of Baghdad's 23 entrances.
NR
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