Nine killed south of Baghdad in bombing claimed by Islamic State

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least nine people were killed in bomb attacks claimed by Islamic State on a Shi'ite Muslim mosque south of Baghdad on Friday, police and medics said. The militant group, which controls large swathes of northern and western Iraq, said in an online statement it had targeted "rejectionists", as the group refers to Shi'ites. A roadside bomb planted near the mosque in Yousifiya went off as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers, killing two civilians and wounding nine, the sources said. When security forces arrived at the scene, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-packed vest, killing seven and wounding 28 others, they said. Iraq is gripped by a sectarian conflict mostly between Shi'ites and Sunnis that has been exacerbated by the rise of the ultra-hardline Sunni insurgents of Islamic State. (Reporting by Saif Hameed; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Gareth Jones)