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Suicide bombers attacked a mosque in the Iranian city of Chabahar Wednesday, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 50 as Shiites marked the climax of Ashura, a Red Crescent official said. "An individual walked up to some Red Crescent ambulances and blew himself up," the official, Mahmoud Mozafar, told the ISNA news agency. State television reported that three bombers took part in the attack in the main square outside the city's Imam Hossein mosque. "One blew himself up, the second's explosives failed to detonate and he was wounded by police, and the third has been arrested," state television reported. Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi told the official IRNA news agency that there had been two explosions, coming one after the other. The bomb attack came on the eve of the final day of Ashura, one of the holiest occasions in the Shiite calendar that see large crowds of worshippers gather at mosques across Iran. Unlike most of Iran, Sistan-Baluchestan Province, where Chabahar is situated, has a significant Sunni community and has been a scene of unrest in recent years by the Sunni militant group Jundallah (Soldiers of God). There was no immediate claim of responsibility for yesterday's bombing, but over the past decade Jundallah have claimed responsibility for many deadly attacks on Iranian security forces, as well as on civilians. In July, it carried out an attack on the Grand Mosque in the provincial capital Zahedan. Last month, the US officially designated Jundallah a foreign terrorist organization, drawing a cautious welcome from Iran. AFP |
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