10 dead in Iraq mosque suicide bomb: official

BAQUBA: A suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd of Shiite pilgrims inside a mosque in the central Iraqi town of Baladruz on Thursday, killing at least 10 people, a security official said.

The bomber struck at around 8:15 pm (1715 GMT) inside the Imam al-Hussein mosque in the town, 75 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad and in restive Diyala province, said a colonel in Diyala's security command.

At least 30 other pilgrims were wounded in the blast, the colonel said, adding all the casualties were men.

Diyala province, made up of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, remains one of Iraq's most violent, even as the number of attacks nationwide has dropped off dramatically from its peak in 2006 and 2007.