MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - At least 12 people were killed and 42 injured by a suicide bomber in a Sunni Mosque in northern Iraq on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.

The network quoted police as saying the attacker entered the mosque in the town of Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, carrying an automatic rifle during prayers. He hid among the congregation then stood up, opened fire, and when he ran out of bullets detonated an explosive belt.

AP news agency said the attacker killed the mosque's imam.

The incident follows a series of recent attacks on Sunni clerics in Iraq, who have spoken out against Islamist terrorism.