Iraq: Suicide bomber hits Shi'ite site in Baghdad, kills at least 23, wounds more than 100

Victims of a bomb attack lie at a hospital while waiting for medical treatment after a bomb attack in Baghdad, June 4, 2012. [...] (Reuters Pictures)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed car outside a Shi'ite Muslim office in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Iraq's al Qaeda affiliate.

The bombing on a Shi'ite religious office comes at a sensitive time, with the country's fractious Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs locked in a crisis that threatens to unravel their power-sharing deal and spill into sectarian tension.

The attacker targeted the Shi'ite Endowment - a government-run body that manages Shi'ite religious and cultural sites - leaving dead and wounded scattered along a main street nearby and badly damaging its headquarters, police and witnesses said.

"It was a powerful explosion, dust and smoke covered the area. At first I couldn't see anything, but then I heard screaming women and children," said policeman Ahmed Hassan, who was at a nearby police station when the bomb went off.

"We rushed with other police to help ... the wounded were scattered all around, and there were body parts on the main street," he said.

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