Blasts targeting Shias kill 12 in Iraq
A spate of bomb attacks in and around Baghdad, the deadliest of which targeted Shia areas in the capital, killed at least 12 people yesterday, officials said.
The violence comes amid a political standoff in Iraq pitting the Shiite-led government against the main Sunni-backed political bloc, stoking sectarian tensions barely a month after US troops completed their withdrawal.
In the deadliest attack, two bombs exploded within half an hour of each other in the capital's Sadr City Shiite bastion, killing six people and wounding 32, an interior ministry official said.
The first bomb ripped through a group of workers at around 6:45am while the second exploded outside a bakery. Among the wounded were two women and a child.
The bombings are the latest in a spate of attacks against Shias, which have risen since US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq on December 18.
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