Suicide bomb explodes in Basra

A suicide car bomb exploded on Sunday outside an apartment building used by the Badr Brigade, a Shiite militia linked to one of the main parties in the Iraqi government, killing at least one person and wounding three, police said.

The blast near the three-story building at about 7:30 a.m., and the survivors included former Basra Gov. Hassan al-Rashid, a senior local brigade leader, said police Capt. Mushtak Kadim. The Badr Brigade is the military wing of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the largest Shiite party in the government and led by Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim.

It was not known who planned the attack in Basra, a mostly Shiite city in southern Iraq where the majority of British forces in this country are based. But fighting has occurred in the past between the Badr Brigade and other Shiite militias and between the brigade and Sunni-led insurgent groups in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, AP reports.

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