A suicide bombing and shelling killed 12 people and wounded at least 23 south of Baghdad Wednesday, officials said, as Iraq struggles to stem a major militant offensive.
The bomber detonated explosives in a market in Mahmudiyah, while shellfire struck various areas of the town.
A major Sunni jihadist offensive, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has overrun chunks of five provinces north and west of Baghdad since June 9.