Iraq car bomb attack on Shiites kills 16

BAGHDAD - Agence France-Presse

Archive photo. Reuters photo

A car bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims in central Iraq killed 16 people and wounded 45 on Monday, a day before the peak of the Shiite Ashura religious commemorations, a doctor and a police officer said.
The attack took place in the Neel area north of Hilla, which lies to the south of Baghdad, security officials said.
"We received 16 bodies and 45 wounded," Dr Mohammed Ali of Hilla hospital told AFP, and a first lieutenant in the Hilla police confirmed that toll.
The Ashura commemoration ceremonies, which peak on Tuesday, mark the killing of Imam Hussein by armies of the caliph Yazid in 680 AD.
Violence has declined in Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 187 people were killed in November, according to official figures.