Baghdad: At least 16 people were killed and dozens injured after an arms depot exploded in the Sadr City district of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, security and medical sources said.

"An arms depot exploded. The security forces have opened an inquiry to determine the cause," Baghdad's security operations command said in a statement.

A senior police source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the blast was caused by heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and shells, belonging to an armed group and stored in a house. He said at least 16 people were killed and some 32 injured in the explosion.

Medical sources confirmed the toll and said that women and children were found among the victims. Sources said the blast struck near a Shia mosque in the district of northeast Baghdad.

Witnesses reported heavy material damage to homes and other buildings in the Sadr City district, which is a stronghold of populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr. </s> Several people were killed and over 90 were wounded in twin blasts near a Shia mosque in Baghdad’s Sadr City district on Wednesday, Reuters reported. An interior ministry spokesman said the explosion was caused by the detonation of an ammunition cache.

There were varying reports on the toll. While Reuters reported that at least 18 people were killed, according to AFP at least 16 people were killed. A report in Al Jazeera said at least seven people died in the blasts.

An investigation into the incident has been initiated. Media reports conflicting reasons for the cause of the blast. State media quoted an unidentified spokesperson who described the incident as a “terrorist aggression on civilians”. The news agency, however, quoted an unidentified police official who said that the blast occurred during the transfer of ammunition from the mosque to a car.

Sadr is home to many supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada’s al-Sadr whose coalition won the majority in the parliamentary elections held on May 12. Earlier on Wednesday, members of Iraq’s parliament had voted in favour of a recount of the 11 million votes.

In May, the Iraqi Communist Party headquarters was targeted with two homemade bombs. The party was part of Sadr’s Sairoon coalition. </s> A pair of explosions ripped through a mosque in a mostly Shiite district of Iraq’s capital Wednesday, killing at least 10 worshippers, including two children, security officials said.

They said the blasts in Baghdad’s Sadr City district also wounded 25 people, almost completely destroyed the mosque and damaged several nearby houses.

The officials agreed to give details of the attack only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A government statement said the blasts occurred at a weapons depot in Sadr City. It said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the explosions, but did not give the exact location of the depot.

The officials said weapons were stored inside the mosque, which is frequented by supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric whose supporters once fought American troops in Iraq in the years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. </s> Twin blasts on a mosque in the Iraqi capital Baghdad have killed at least seven worshipers and wounded 20 others, security officials said.

Wednesday's attack on the predominantly Shia Sadr City district caused damage to nearby buildings, the officials, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

The mosque is frequented by supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada's al-Sadr whose Sairoon coalition won a plurality of seats, 54 in total, in the last parliamentary elections earlier in May.

Earlier in the day, Iraq's parliament voted in favour of a full recount of some 11 million ballots cast in the May 12 vote.

Members of parliament also sacked a nine-member independent electoral commission that oversaw the process and replaced the body with judges. </s> At least 18 people were killed and about 90 wounded in an explosion that hit Sadr City, a suburb of Baghdad controlled by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the winning coalition in the Iraqi elections in May, police sources reported on Thursday.

According to police sources, the explosion happened on Wednesday night inside a house used as a depot for weapons and ammunition, which was destroyed along with three other homes, while a nearby Shiite mosque was damaged, as seen in epa images released Thursday. </s> Suicide blast at mosque in Baghdad kills two

BAGHDAD: A suicide explosion at a Shiite mosque in eastern Baghdad killed two civilians and wounded nine people on Friday, two Iraqi police officers told AFP.

The blast hit the Imam Mahdi al-Muntadhar mosque in Baladiyat, near the massive and densely-populated district of Sadr City. “At least one attacker wearing a belt of explosives tried to enter the building but was stopped by the guards, and detonated himself outside,” one officer told AFP. “Two civilians were killed and nine people were wounded,” the source said. The second officer confirmed the details and toll for the attack. At the scene, security forces quickly deployed to cordon off the site, an AFP photographer at the mosque said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. </s> BAGHDAD — A pair of explosions ripped through a mosque in a mostly Shiite district of Iraq’s capital Wednesday, killing at least 10 worshippers, including two children, security officials said.

They said the blasts in Baghdad’s Sadr City district also wounded 25 people, almost completely destroyed the mosque and damaged several nearby houses.

The officials agreed to give details of the attack only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

A government statement said the blasts occurred at a weapons depot in Sadr City. It said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the explosions, but did not give the exact location of the depot.

The officials said weapons were stored inside the mosque, which is frequented by supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric whose supporters once fought American troops in Iraq in the years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Al-Sadr’s followers won the largest number of seats in Iraq’s May 12 parliamentary elections but would have to form a coalition government with other blocs in a process that could drag on for months.

Al-Sadr also commands a government-backed paramilitary force, which took part in the nearly three-year war against the Islamic State group, which had in 2013 and 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq’s territory. Iraq declared victory over IS last year, but the extremist group retains pockets in western and northern Iraq and continues to stage attacks on security forces.

Associated Press writer Murtada Faraj in Baghdad contributed to this report. </s> Several people have been killed in a blast at a Shia Muslim mosque in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, according to police and security sources.

The explosion hit the Imam Mahdi al-Muntadhar mosque in Baladiyat neighbourhood during Friday prayers, near the massive and densely-populated district of Sadr City.

The attacker was wearing an explosive-laden belt targetting the mosque, Police Captain Ahmed Khalaf told Anadolu Agency.

He said 10 people were killed and dozens wounded, while other news agencies' reports quoting unidentified security sources put the death toll to at least seven.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Iraq has witnessed a rare period of relative calm in recent months after decades of back-to-back conflict, including years of sectarian violence that regularly saw dozens killed in explosions in Baghdad.

In 2017, Iraq declared victory against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group, which had also carried out mass attacks against civilians in the capital.

The improved security situation has led officials to dismantle the concrete blast walls, barbed wire and checkpoints that had become ubiquitous in Baghdad.

Last month, at least eight people were killed and 15 wounded in a suicide bombing at a market in eastern Baghdad.

In November, explosions in several Shia-majority districts killed six people, most of them civilians. </s> BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi security officials say a pair of explosions has ripped through a mosque in a mostly Shiite district in Baghdad, killing at least seven worshippers, including two children.

They said the blasts on Wednesday night in the Sadr City district also wounded 20 people and damaged several nearby houses.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The mosque is frequented by supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric whose supporters once fought American troops in Iraq in the years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Al-Sadr's followers emerged with the most seats in Iraq's May 12 parliament elections but would have to form a coalition government with other blocs in a process that could drag on for months.
At least 18 people are killed by twin explosions in a weapons depot in a mosque in Sadr City, Baghdad.