Baghdad -- A series of attacks largely targeting Shiite Muslims killed at least 52 people today, most of them in a powerful car bombing at a mosque on the northern edge of the volatile city of Mosul.Authorities said most of the 39 victims at the mosque were Shiite Turkmens, a minority group that has frequently been targeted by the Sunni Arab militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq to inflame sectarian and ethnic tensions.
The massive bomb exploded as worshipers were leaving the mosque in the village of Shraikan after attending Friday prayers, officials said. The bombing, which demolished 10 nearby homes, is certain to raise tensions between Kurds, who control the area, and the Sunni Arab administration of Ninevah province, of which Mosul is the capital.