Six martyred in Iraqi Husseiniyah blast

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAQUBA, Iraq: A bomb blast on Friday outside a crowded Husseiniyah in the central Iraqi town of Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, left at least half a dozen worshippers martyred injuring 40 others.

According to police Sergeant Haki Ismail Mustafa a gas cylinder with explosives inside was put on a bicycle and left outside the husseiniyah close to people praying on the pavement because of lack of space inside. At the end of midday prayers it exploded.

Police and witnesses said the bomb shattered windows and damaged cars outside the husseiniyah in a residential area.

Earlier, terrorists fired rockets at dawn into the Burj al-Hayat hotel in central Baghdad used by Western businessmen and US military contractors. No one was hurt.

In another development, hundreds of US troops stormed houses and shops in Tikrit overnight detaining 30 Iraqis in one of the biggest raids since the end of the US-led war.

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