Baghdad:
A suicide bomber attacked a university in north Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least one person and wounding at least nine, security officials said.
The attack, which comes as Iraq suffers a prolonged surge in bloodshed, occurred less than two weeks before a parliamentary election that will be a major test for security forces.
Officials gave varying accounts of the attack on Imam Kadhim University.
A police colonel said a suicide bomber entered the university before detonating explosives, while another bomber and a gunman were killed by security forces.
An interior ministry official meanwhile said that the bombing took place at the entrance to the university, while a second bomber was shot dead.
Iraqis vote on April 30 in the first parliamentary election since American troops left the country in late 2011.
While they were able to keep violence to a minimum during provincial polls last year, the security forces have failed to halt a subsequent year-long surge in unrest.
The heightened violence has been driven principally by widespread anger among the Sunni Arab minority, who say they are mistreated by the Shiite-led government and security forces.
It has also been fuelled by the bloody civil war in neighbouring Syria, which has bolstered militant groups.
Violence has killed more than 460 people in Iraq this month and upwards of 2,700 this year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
The attack, which comes as Iraq suffers a prolonged surge in bloodshed, occurred less than two weeks before a parliamentary election that will be a major test for security forces.
Officials gave varying accounts of the attack on Imam Kadhim University.
A police colonel said a suicide bomber entered the university before detonating explosives, while another bomber and a gunman were killed by security forces.
An interior ministry official meanwhile said that the bombing took place at the entrance to the university, while a second bomber was shot dead.
Iraqis vote on April 30 in the first parliamentary election since American troops left the country in late 2011.
While they were able to keep violence to a minimum during provincial polls last year, the security forces have failed to halt a subsequent year-long surge in unrest.
The heightened violence has been driven principally by widespread anger among the Sunni Arab minority, who say they are mistreated by the Shiite-led government and security forces.
It has also been fuelled by the bloody civil war in neighbouring Syria, which has bolstered militant groups.
Violence has killed more than 460 people in Iraq this month and upwards of 2,700 this year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
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