Fifteen people were killed and 25 wounded in three bomb attacks in the Shiite Muslim shrine city of Najaf on Thursday, an Iraqi interior ministry official told AFP.
A car bomb exploded near a mosque and two other bombs blew up in a retail market in the city, 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of Baghdad, according to a security official.
Najaf is home to the mausoleum of Imam Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, and attracts Shiites from around the world, especially neighbouring Iran.
An AFP correspondent in the city said Iraqi security forces deployed in large numbers following the attacks, with routes into the city sealed off.
While attacks in Iraq remain common, especially in Baghdad and the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, violence in Najaf has become rare.
The last major attack in Najaf occurred in February 2007 when a suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi police checkpoint, killing 13 people and wounding dozens more.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
