One dead, 80 hurt in Iraq bus bombing

OSUL, Iraq — A double bomb attack targeting buses carrying Christian students and university workers near Mosul in northern Iraq killed a shopkeeper and wounded 80 other people on Sunday, police said.

The attack, comprising a car bomb and an improvised explosive device, took place on a highway around three kilometres east of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province, at around 8:00 am (0500 GMT) an officer told AFP.

The victims were travelling from Hamdaniyah, a Christian area, to the University of Mosul, he said.

In November, the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned that minorities including Christians were the collateral victims of a conflict between Arabs and Kurds over control of disputed oil-rich provinces in northern Iraq.

While sectarian violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak between 2005 and 2007, attacks remain common, especially in Baghdad and Mosul.