BAGHDAD — Suspected Shiite militiamen opened fire on a Sunni mosque in eastern Iraq on Friday, killing dozens of worshipers and stirring fears of an explosion of sectarian violence resulting from the rise of the Islamic State extremist group.
The gunmen stormed the Mosab Bin Umar mosque in the city of Diyala during Friday noon prayers. News services put the death toll at more than 60. Area health officials and security forces offered figures ranging from 35 to 70.
The mosque attack marked the single deadliest assault in months on Sunni civilians in Iraq. It highlighted the increasing danger that Iraq could slide into sectarian war, with fighters from Shiite militias striking back at the Sunni militants from Islamic State who have rampaged across northern and western Iraq.
The country’s newly designated prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, who was selected this month in place of Nouri al-Maliki, is under pressure to form a government capable of confronting the Islamic State, a Sunni group, and uniting the country.
But the attack Friday could further complicate that process. Sunni lawmakers from Diyala blamed the attack on Shiite militias tied to the government. The Sunni party of Iraq’s new parliamentary speaker, Salim al-Jubouri, said it would boycott al-Abadi’s government, according to al-Jubouri’s spokesman.
Saad Maan, a spokesman for Iraq’s Interior Ministry, said the attack on the mosque followed a bombing that targeted a gathering of security forces and militiamen less than a mile away.
The Islamic State gained control of much of northern Iraq in June and later declared its own caliphate, or state, spanning Iraq and Syria. The extremists are thought to have executed thousands of Shiites and political opponents in their push to impose a radical interpretation of Islamic law and expand their territory.
Dozens of U.S. airstrikes have been carried out against Islamic State targets over the past two weeks.
The U.S. State Department condemned the mosque attack in the village of Imam Wais.
Deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said it “underscores 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.”
