A suicide truck bomber killed 75 people when he rammed his vehicle into a Shia mosque in Baghdad on Tuesday, just hours after the US military deployed 10,000 soldiers in a major offensive against al Qaeda.
The offensive around the city of Baquba in Diyala province, involving attack helicopters and armoured fighting vehicles, is partly aimed at taking down al Qaeda car bomb networks that cause carnage in Baghdad. It is one of the biggest military operations since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In the bombing, one witness said the bomber drove his truck into the Shia Khilani mosque in Baghdad, destroying one of its walls and wrecking part of the building's interior. The mosque's signature turquoise dome appeared to have suffered little damage.
Police said 75 people had been killed and 130 people wounded. Rescuers dragged bodies from the mosque while the charred remains of others could be seen in burned out minibuses around a nearby traffic circle.
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