Bombings near Iraq Shiite mosque kill six: Officials

BAGHDAD - Agence France-Presse

In this AP File Photo, Iraqi policemen stand guard as shop owners clean up debris and inspect the aftermath of a deadly car bomb explosion in a busy commercial district of al-Zubair, a suburb of the predominantly Shiite city of Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015.

A roadside bomb followed by a suicide bombing near a Shiite mosque south of Baghdad killed at least six people and wounded 19 on Nov. 20, security and medical officials said.

The first blast struck as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers, while the suicide bomber detonated explosives after security forces arrived.
 
Security forces members were among the dead and wounded, but the exact number was not immediately clear.
 
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Sunni extremists, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), often carry out bombings targeting Shiites, whom they consider heretics.
 
The bombings came a week after a series of attacks claimed by ISIL targeted Shiites in Baghdad, killing at least 19 people.
 
ISIL overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, sweeping security forces aside, and though Iraqi forces have since pushed the jihadists back, the group still holds much of western Iraq.
 
Bombings in Baghdad have become less frequent since the ISIL offensive last year, apparently because the jihadists have been occupied with fighting elsewhere.