BAGHDAD — A string of bombings targeted Shiite worshipers in the Baghdad area during Friday prayers, killing at least 29 people in an apparently coordinated attack against followers of an anti-U.S. cleric who were blamed for some of Iraq’s worst sectarian violence.
The blasts shattered a recent calm and underscored warnings that Sunni insurgents would step up efforts to stoke sectarian violence as the Americans draw down their forces. Despite the violence, July remained one of the calmest months for Iraqis and the least deadly for American forces.
The largest blast was a car bombing near the al-Shoroufi mosque that killed at least 24 people and injured 30 in Shaab. The northern neighborhood was a former stronghold of the militia led by Muqtada al-Sadr, whose forces were accused of being behind sectarian bloodshed and were routed last year in a government offensive.
The mosque was seized by Iraqi security forces more than a year ago and has been used as a base after explosives and ammunition were found inside. But worshipers continued to hold weekly Friday prayer services on the street outside. Bloodied prayer rugs and sandals covered the area after the explosion.
Nearly simultaneous explosions struck four other Shiite mosques in Baghdad and south of the capital.
Four people were killed and 17 wounded near a mosque in the village of Jisr Diyala, and one died and six were wounded at another in the southeastern Zafaraniyah neighborhood. The details and casualty tolls were reported by police and hospital officials.
An al-Sadr aide, Amir al-Kenani, called it a coordinated attack against the cleric’s loyalists, blaming al-Qaeda in Iraq and political parties trying to undermine the movement.
