Iraq official blames Islamic State for bombing Sunni mosques

Three Sunni mosques in Iraq have been bombed and partially destroyed while at least two people have been killed in suspected retaliation for the execution of a Shia leader in Saudi Arabia, officials and police say.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday ordered security forces in Babil province to hunt down militiamen who bombed three Sunni mosques in the province, in a bid to quell sectarian tension.

Iraqi Shi’ites protesting the January 2 execution of Saudi Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr separately marched in Baghdad and southern cities, while a powerful Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia group pressured the government to sever ties with Riyadh.

“After we heard the explosion, we went to its source and found that IEDs (improvised explosive devices) had been planted in the mosque”, the captain said.

The Al-Fateh mosque in a village called Sinjar, just outside Hilla, was also destroyed overnight.

Police said no one was outside during the incident due to the cold weather. A local councillor identified the slain muezzin of the Mohammed Abdullah Jabbouri mosque in Haswa as Taha Al-Juburi.

Iskandariyah is part of a mixed Sunni-Shiite area south of Baghdad which was once dubbed “the triangle of death” and was badly affected by sectarian violence last decade.

Angry protesters, who had gathered outside the Saudi embassy in Iraq to express their grief over the execution of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi authorities, crossed security barriers and entered the embassy compound, IRNA reported. The crowd at Tahrir Square in central Baghdad demanded the government boycott Saudi commercial goods in response to Saudi Arabia’s latest executions.

In Baghdad on Monday, demonstrators carrying portraits of Nimr rallied outside the Green Zone, a heavily fortified district that houses government departments and diplomatic representations, including the newly reopened Saudi embassy.

Saudi Arabia cut ties with regional rival Iran on Sunday after protesters attacked the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran.