Bombing, shootings in Iraq kill 17 people

BAGHDAD (AP) A shooting at a construction site and a double bombing on a small Shiite shrine killed 17 people northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, Iraqi officials said.

Police officials said two bombs exploded Tuesday afternoon inside the Imam Idris Shiite shrine near the city of Baqouba, killing 10 people and wounding 20 others. The shrine was partially damaged.

Baqouba, a former al-Qaida stronghold, is 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

Earlier in the day, gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on Sunni workers building a house in the village of Abara, about 65 kilometers (41) miles from the Iraqi capital, killing seven.

The officials say the workers were relatives from the same tribe.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures for both attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Violence has spiked in Iraq since a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in April. The surge in attacks has raised fears about a return of the sectarian bloodshed that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-2007.

At least 164 people have died in attacks in Iraq so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.

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Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.