Dozens killed in suicide bomb attack at mosque in Iran (2nd Lead)

Dec 15, 2010, 9:54 GMT

Tehran - Dozens of people were killed and injured Wednesday in a suicide bomb attack at a mosque in south-eastern Iran, the official news agency IRNA and other agencies reported.

An Iranian Red Crescent Society official told local media that at least 15 people were killed and dozens injured.

Ali Batani, the governor of Chahbahar where the attack took place, said he could not confirm the death toll so far reported, adding that investigations were underway to obtain details of the casualties.

Batani said that one of the terrorists was arrested before he could explode a second bomb.

The first terrorist was reportedly killed when the first bomb went off.

The Interior Ministry had not yet confirmed the death toll but said at least 60 people were injured in the suicide bomb attack and immediately hospitalized.

The attack occurred at the Iman Hussein mosque in Chabahar where worshippers were attending the Ashura ceremony, the anniversary of the death of Hussein, the third Shiite imam.

Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has frequently been a venue for terrorist attacks, mainly by the group Jundollah.

The Jundollah group is accused by Iran of drug-trafficking, kidnapping and bombings in Sistan-Baluchistan over the recent years.

Tehran also accuses Jundollah of sowing discord between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority in Iran.

Jundollah leader Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged in June in Tehran's Evin prison.

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