7 wounded in bombing outside Baghdad church

An Iraqi police official says seven people have been wounded by a roadside bomb outside the entrance of a Baghdad church.

An Iraqi police official says seven people have been wounded by a roadside bomb outside the entrance of a Baghdad church.

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The official says the blast took place on Sunday just meters away from the Sacred Heart Church in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood. Shrapnel from the bomb struck the outside of the building.

The officer said no parishioners were inside and services had not been held in the building. Four policemen and three civilian bystanders were wounded. Iraqi security forces are on high alert for any violence targeting Iraq's beleaguered Christian community this Easter.

Iraqi Christians have faced a recent wave of violence, including an attack last year against a Baghdad church that killed 68 people. The officer declined to be identified because he was not authorized to brief the media.