Officials say car bomb in Iraq's capital kills 11

Associated Press
People walk past election campaign posters at Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 10, 2014. The election campaign kicked off Tuesday, April 1, 2014 with Iraqi towns and cities flooded with posters of the candidates for parliament seats on main streets and intersections. The vote is set for April 30. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say a car bombing in a neighborhood of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, has killed 11 people.

Police say the blast Thursday night happened in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City and also wounded 21 people. They say it struck a commercial area of the neighborhood.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures from the attack. All official spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to speak to journalists.

Violence has surged in Iraq since last year, with the country weathering its deadliest bout of violence since it pulled back from the brink of civil war in 2008. Iraq also is heading toward a crucial parliamentary election on April 30, its first since the 2011 U.S. troop pullout.