Iraq PM vows to hunt down mosque bombers

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the security forces were tracking down the perpetrators of attacks against Sunni religious targets south of Baghdad on Monday.

Unknown attackers bombed two mosques in the Hilla region and shot dead a muezzin near Iskandariyah, a mixed area south of the capital which was badly affected by the civil war that raged in the country a decade ago.

"We ordered Babil operations command to hunt down the criminal gangs of Daesh and their likes who targeted mosques to sow sedition and undermine national unity," Abadi said on Twitter.

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group which Iraqi security forces are battling on several fronts.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks, which came against a tense regional backdrop following the execution by Saudi Arabia of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Baghdad accuses Saudi Arabia of actively supporting IS, which still controls swathes of the country, with funds and weapons.
Source: AFP