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Global

Twin bombings outside Shi'ite mosque kill 17 in eastern Iraq


    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Twin bombings outside a Shi'ite place of worship in eastern Iraq killed at least 17 people as they filed out after Friday prayers, police and hospital sources said.

    A parked car laden with explosives blew up near the exit of the mosque in Balad Ruz, and when bystanders gathered to evacuate the wounded, a suicide bomber detonated himself among them.

    A further 37 people were wounded in the attack in the eastern province of Diyala. Local military commander Adnan al-Tamimi was among the dead.

    Another car bomb exploded in the parking lot of a Shi'ite mosque in the Kanan district of Diyala, wounding several civilians.

    Iraqi officials declared victory over Sunni Muslim Islamic State militants in Diyala earlier this year after security forces and Shi'ite paramilitaries retook towns and villages from them in the mixed province, which borders Iran.

    But the insurgents remain active despite no longer holding any urban centres.

    (Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Andrew Roche)