6 killed by car bomb targeting restaurant south of Baghdad

6 killed by car bomb south of Baghdad

BAGHDAD — A car bomb exploded in front of a restaurant killing six people south of Baghdad on Wednesday, Iraqi officials said, highlighting the fragile nature of Iraq’s security.

The bomb in the mixed Sunni-Shiite town comes as the country enters its third month without a new government, raising concerns that violence will rise as political disputes spill out into the streets.

A spokesman for the Babil police, Maj. Muthana Khalid, said the parked car detonated in the town of Musayyib, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of Baghdad.

The car was left in front of a restaurant where people had gathered to eat grilled meat. Ten people were injured in the incident.

A hospital official confirmed the toll. He did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Violence has fallen dramatically in Iraq since the height of the insurgency, but a spate of attacks, including one last week that killed 119 people, has heightened fears that insurgents will try to incite a return to sectarian violence just as U.S. forces go home.