Bombings, shooting kill 12 people in Iraqi capital

BAGHDAD - Attacks, including a bombing of Shiite pilgrims, killed 12 people in the Iraqi capital on Saturday, Iraqi officials said.

Police officials said the car bomb went off Saturday night in western Baghdad near a tent serving Shiite pilgrims heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, killing six people and wounding 15 others.

Earlier in the day, Police said three people were killed and 11 others were wounded when a bomb exploded at an outdoor market in Baghdad's southeastern suburb of Nahrawan.

Two people were killed and seven others were wounded in a bomb blast inside a restaurant in the capital's northeastern suburb of Husseiniyah, said police.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen killed the owner of a grocery store as he was walking near his house in the neighbourhood of Hurriyah.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's attacks, but insurgent groups frequently target civilians in cafes and public areas in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and stir up Iraq's already simmering sectarian tensions.

Medical officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to talk to media.

At least 196 people have died in attacks across the country so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.