Car Bomb Kills 11 in Northern Iraq

A police officer inspects the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, May 25, 2014.

Officials in northern Iraq say a car bomb targeting a liquor store has killed 11 people and wounded more than two dozen others.

Authorities say the blast happened Saturday in the al-Wassiti neighborhood in the city of Kirkuk, about 270 kilometers north of Baghdad.

Militants often target nightclubs, liquor stores and brothels because they want to impose a strict interpretation of Islam in Iraq.

The attack comes as Iraq's Shiite-led government is struggling to contain a surge in sectarian violence not seen since the country was pushed to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007 after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Sadaam Hussein.