24 dead in Iraq violence

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque north of Baghdad on Saturday, the deadliest in a series of attacks that left 24 people dead.

Saturday's deadliest attack struck Taji, north of Baghdad.

A suicide bomber blew himself up inside the Al-Rahman mosque in the town at about 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), according to an interior ministry official and a medical source.

At least 15 people were killed and 31 others wounded in the explosion, the officials said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Elsewhere in Iraq on Saturday, a suicide car bomb and two separate shootings killed nine.

In the main northern city of Mosul, a suicide attacker set off a vehicle rigged with explosives near a police patrol on the city's southern outskirts.

The explosion killed four people including a policeman, police and medical officials said.

And in town of Tuz Khurmatu, which lies at the heart of the area disputed between the Kurds and Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on patrolling police, killing three and wounding a fourth, security and medical officials said.

And in Tikrit, militants fired on day labourers waiting near a grain silo, killing two and wounding four, officials said. (AFP)