July 19, 2013 - 19:48 AMT
20 killed in Iraqi Sunni mosque suicide bomber attack

A suicide bomber killed 20 people inside a crowded Sunni mosque north of Baghdad on Friday, July 19 police said, as Iraq struggles to contain its worst violence since 2008, according to AFP.

The bomber detonated explosives soon after entering the Abu Bakr al-Sadiq Mosque as the imam gave the Friday sermon in the town of Al-Wajihiyah, a police colonel said.

A doctor confirmed the toll from the blast which also wounded 40 people.

Iraq has faced years of attacks by militants, but analysts say widespread discontent among members of its Sunni minority, which the government has failed to address, has fuelled this year's surge in unrest.

Iraqi Sunnis accuse the Shiite-led government of marginalising and targeting their community, including making unwarranted arrests and terrorism charges.