Iraq violence: Dozens killed in Shia shrine suicide attack

Suicide bombers and gunmen have killed at least 35 people and injured some 50 others in an attack at a Shia shrine in the Iraqi town of Balad, the BBC reports quoting officials say.

At least one bomber blew himself up outside the mausoleum of Sayid Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi, which was then stormed by gunmen, reports say.

Another bomber is said to have blown himself up among fleeing worshippers.

Meanwhile the death toll from Sunday's suicide bombing in Baghdad has again been raised, from 281 to 292.

Initial reports said so-called Islamic State (IS) group had said it had carried out the attack in Balad, but IS has not confirmed this.

IS supporters online have welcomed the attack, which the group is suspected of perpetrating.

Worshippers were marking the Eid al-Fitr festival, celebrating the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when the site came under mortar fire.

The first bomber then struck a market at the entrance to the shrine.

A third bomber was shot dead before he was able to detonate his explosive vest, reports say.

About 50 people were wounded in the attack, police and medical sources say.

It came four days after IS carried out the deadliest bombing in Baghdad, 45 miles (70km) south of Balad, since the 2003 US-led invasion.

That attack target a shopping complex in the mainly Shia Muslim Karrada district of the city.

The militant group follows an extreme form of Sunni Islam and often targets Shias, who it regards as apostates.

IS militants overran large parts of northern and western Iraq two years ago, but government forces have since regained much of the territory.

In response to the battlefield setbacks, including the recent loss of the western city of Falluja, the militants have stepped up their attacks on civilians.

The Iraqi government has been accused of not doing enough to protect its citizens and has stepped-up security in Baghdad in response to the latest violence.