Over a dozen killed in suicide bombing in Iran

May 28, 2009

At least 15 people have been killed and over 50 more injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in the Iranian city of Zahedan in the province of Baluchestan. The Iranian news agency Fars reports the death toll to be at 20 and 55 injured.

"The bomb exploded at the time of evening prayer and killed a number of worshippers," said the governor general of Baluchestan Province, Ali Mohammad Azad.

Reports also say that a second device, a bomb, was found inside the mosque when rescue workers were searching for victims, but that authorities were able to defuse it.

No group has claimed responsibility though authorities blame militants from Western nations. It was earlier thought that the blast had been due to live ammunition in a 1980's war exhibit being mishandled.

The last time an Iranian mosque was the target of a suicide bombing was in April 2008. A bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in Shiraz, injuring over 200 people and killing 13.