Blast outside of Basra mosque kills five

BASRA, Iraq, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A car bomb exploded in Basra, Iraq, killing five people and wounding 35, authorities said Friday.

The explosion occurred Thursday outside of a Shiite mosque in the southern area of the governate, Aswat al-Iraq reported.

Officials said a number of cars and houses near the blast site were damaged.

In Anbar province, the commander of Iraq's 7th Army Division, Maj. Gen. Ismail al-Duleimy, escaped an assassination attempt in which his driver died and two bodyguards were wounded, a security official said Friday.

The general was in a motorcade between Hit and Qaim when an explosive device detonated, officials said.