Five mortar rounds struck the Mussayib area south of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 17 people, police and a doctor said.

Five mortar rounds struck the Mussayib area south of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 17 people, police and a doctor said.

The shelling, which hit an area of shops and restaurants that draws crowds at night, also wounded 70 people, the sources said.

A car bomb killed one person in Mussayib on Tuesday, one of 10 such blasts to hit central Iraq that day.

Militants frequently attack areas where crowds of people gather, including cafes, markets, football pitches and mosques, in a bid to cause the maximum number of casualties.

More than 1,500 people have been killed in attacks and clashes so far this year, after upwards of 6,800 died in violence in 2013, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.