Gunmen kill 5 Sunni worshippers in Iraq

August 31, 2013 02:44 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 09:20 pm IST - Baghdad

Iraqi authorities say that gunmen have stormed a Sunni mosque in Baghdad, killing five people.

Police officials said the attackers entered the building in Baghdad’s southeastern neighbourhood of New Baghdad and shot at Sunni worshippers who were performing Saturday’s dawn prayers.

Police said the gunmen used weapons fitted with silencers.

They said two other worshippers were wounded.

Medics in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Most attacks on civilians in recent years have been the work of Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaeda.

But attacks on Sunni mosques have been on the rise in recent months, raising fears that Shiite armed groups are starting to retaliate.

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