Blast near Iraqi Shiite crowd kills 11

BAGHDAD — A car bomb killed 11 people when it exploded shortly after sunset Wednesday near a gathering of Shiite Muslims south of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said, the latest apparent sectarian attack in the increasingly troubled country.

Police and hospital officials said the bomb went off close to a tent where people were gathered for a religious ceremony near the town of Suwayrah, 25 miles south of the Iraqi capital. They said 40 people were wounded in the blast.

Violence has declined in Iraq since its height between 2005 and 2008, but attacks continue almost daily. There has been a steady increase since U.S. troops completed their withdrawal in December. Al-Qaida has declared its intention to take back areas from which the U.S. and its local allies expelled the militants.

The bomb went off Wednesday just after “iftar,” the ceremonial breaking of the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan, when families and friends gather for a festive meal.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Attacks on Shiites are often attributed to al-Qaida’s local wing in Iraq.

The blast raised to at least 19 the number of people killed in Iraq on Wednesday.

Hours earlier, gunmen shot and killed eight members of a family inside their house north of Baghdad.