Twin car bombs kill 7 in Shiite enclave of Baghdad

Twin car bombs kill 7 in Baghdad Shiite enclave

BAGHDAD — Suicide attackers detonated two car bombs in a Shiite enclave in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding 21 others, Iraqi officials said.

The car bombs exploded within five minutes of each other around sunset. The first targeted a security checkpoint and the second hit a market just down the street, a police official said.

Officials at Yarmouk hospital confirmed the casualty toll. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The bombings were likely to add to fears that sectarian tensions are soaring as Iraq struggles to seat a government almost two months after parliamentary elections that produced no clear winner.

The blasts occurred in the Abu Dashir neighborhood, a small Shiite enclave in the large southern area of Dura, a predominantly Sunni area that was once a stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq.