Four people were killed when a bomber blew himself up outside Baghdad's Baratha mosque, one of the city's most important Shia sites and a frequent target of attacks.

The bomber was driving a minibus when it exploded near the mosque on Saturday, also wounding 15 people.

The blast came after a quiet day in the capital on Friday that saw no news of high-profile attacks, although armed Shia groups did engage in bloody clashes in the south of the country.

The Baratha mosque was targeted in April by bombers dressed as women who killed 90 people, and again in June by another explosion that killed 11.

Shia violence

Fighting has erupted between Iraqi police and Shia fighters in a town southeast of Baghdad as army troops quelled clashes further south.

Mohammed Hassan, an Iraqi police lieutenant colonel, said gunbattles were underway in the town of Suweira, a mainly Shia community on the Tigris river 60km from the capital.

He said: "Two Mahdi Army and one civilian have been killed. Five others are injured, including three gunmen and two civilians."

In a separate development, police in Hilla said they intervened to halt a clash between rival Shia groups after the Mahdi Army was accused of planting a bomb by an office of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri).

Police said one Sciri guard was injured in the blast. Hilla is a mainly Shia town south of Baghdad.  

Photo Caption

An Iraqi soldier inside the bombed Baratha mosque in June