South Iraq Bombing Kills 'Several'

A bomb blast killed several people on Monday and wounded at least 25 in a busy area of Zubayr near Iraq's southern hub of Basra, a security official said.

"At least 25 (people) are wounded. I don't know exactly how many dead -- there are several -- because the emergency services are still working," said Jabbar al-Saadi of the provincial council's security committee.

He said the explosion rocked a market area known as Souk al-Halaqin in Zubayr, just 10 kilometers (six miles) southwest of Basra.

Bombings are rare in Iraq's south, which is predominantly Shiite and hard to penetrate for Sunni jihadist groups that are responsible for most such attacks in Baghdad and other parts of the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Zubayr bombing, however.

The Basra region has been spared the violence unleashed on other parts of Iraq by the Islamic State group since last year but feuding between rival Shiite armed groups and criminal gangs has risen lately.