Bomb hits Shi'ite site in Baghdad, 23 killed

Source: Reuters

By Kareem Raheem

BAGHDAD | Mon Jun 4, 2012 8:23am EDT

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed car outside a Shi'ite Muslim office in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Iraq's al Qaeda affiliate.

The bombing on a Shi'ite religious office comes at a sensitive time, with the country's fractious Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs locked in a crisis that threatens to unravel their power-sharing deal and spill into sectarian tension.

The attacker targeted the Shi'ite Endowment - a government-run body that manages Shi'ite religious and cultural sites - leaving dead and wounded scattered along a main street nearby and badly damaging its headquarters, police and witnesses said.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/04/us-iraq-violence-idUSBRE85308O20120604