Twenty-two people were killed and 25 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack targeting a Shiite mosque in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad on Sunday evening, a police source said.

A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up in Abbas al-Adly, a Shiite mosque, located in the Harithiya area of western Baghdad, killing 22 people including the suicide bomber, while injuring at least 15 others, the source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry told Xinhua on the condition of anonymity.

The source added that the toll could rise as ambulances and police vehicles continue to evacuate the casualties to hospitals.

Iraq has been witnessing some of the worst violence in years. Terrorism and violence have killed 5,576 civilians in Iraq in the first half of this year, with 11,666 more wounded, according to a recent UN report.

The security situation began to drastically deteriorate in the country on June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between the Iraqi security forces and the Islamic State, an al-Qaida break- away group, who took control of the country's northern city of Mosul and later seized swathes of territories after Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other predominantly Sunni provinces.

Earlier on Sunday, an Arab League delegation met with Iraqi President Fuad Masoum, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri in an effort to show their support for Iraq's military campaign against militant groups and terrorist attacks.

Last month, the United States sought to build a coalition of both world and regional countries to push back against the Islamic State's quick expansion. So far, the U.S.-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the armed Islamist group in both Iraq and Syria. Endi

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