Suicide bomber attack near Baghdad mosque

  • 10/12/2015
Blood stains are seen at a Shi'ite mosque after a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad (Reuters)
Blood stains are seen at a Shi'ite mosque after a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad (Reuters)

A suicide bomber has killed at least eight people near a Shi'ite mosque in eastern Baghdad.

The blast yesterday in the Obeidi area also wounded at least 19 people, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but in Iraq suicide bombings are a tactic almost exclusively used by the Islamic State jihadist group.

IS considers Shi'ites to be heretics, and frequently targets them with bombings in crowded areas of the capital.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad last year, and while Iraqi forces have retaken significant territory north of the capital, much of the country's west remains under jihadist control.

Bombings in Baghdad have become less frequent since the IS offensive last year, apparently because the jihadists have been occupied with fighting elsewhere.

AFP