One killed in bomb blast near French consulate in Iraq

One person has died in a bomb explosion outside the honorary French consulate near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the latest in a wave of attacks across the country.

Iraqi officials at the site of a car bomb attack outside the honorary French consultate in Nasiriyah, south of Baghdad. Reuters

A French diplomat says a car bomb exploded around nine o’clock in the morning local time outside the consulate in Nasiriyah, south of Baghdad.

It happened before the honorary consul arrived for work.

One other person was also wounded in the attack.

The bomb was one of a series of more than 20 attacks across Iraq over the weekend, killing 52 people and wounding more than 250 others.

In the deadliest attack on Sunday, two car bombs exploded in a market near the shrine of Imam Ali al-Sharqi in southern Iraq, killing 14 people and injuring 60, according to a security official.

Earlier, police say seven people died and 17 others were injured when a car bomb exploded in a car park at the rear gate of the state-owned North Oil Company, 15 kilometres from the northern city of Kirkuk.

Officers say the victims were seeking to join a force that guards oil facilities.

Just before midnight on Saturday, gunmen opened fire on an Iraqi army checkpoint at Balad, north of Baghdad.

A roadside bomb exploded when extra soldiers arrived at the scene.

An army colonel and a medical source at Balad hospital say 11 soldiers were killed and eight others were wounded in the attack.

So far this month, more than 80 people have been killed in attacks across the country.

Almost 280 were killed in August.