Three killed in bombing at Baghdad Shiite mosque

BAGHDAD - Agence France-Presse

REUTERS photo

A car bombing near a Shiite mosque in east Baghdad killed three people on Monday, as worshippers continued to mark a key date in the Shiite calendar, officials said, AFP reported.

The blast struck at around noon (0900 GMT) near the Al-Obeidi mosque in the east of the capital, killing three people and wounding eight others, according to security and medical officials.

It came as Shiite worshippers mark Ghadeer, the day in the Islamic lunar calendar when the Prophet Mohammed is said to have named Imam Ali, his cousin and son-in-law, as his immediate successor, according to Shiite belief.

Though Ghadeer fell on Saturday, Shiite Muslims in Iraq have continued to mark it over subsequent days.

Seven other people were also wounded on Monday by a blast in the town of Taji, just north of Baghdad, officials said.

The latest deaths came after figures released on Thursday showed a sharp decline in attacks last month, with the number of people killed the lowest since June.

Violence is markedly lower than during the worst of Iraq's communal bloodshed in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, especially in Baghdad.