Iraqi officials say car bomb blast near Shiite mosque kills 8 people in Baghdad

This undated image posted on a militant website on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows Islamic State group policemen standing guard in front of a police station in Nineveh province, Iraq. Arabic reads, "Nineveh province, Islamic State police station, monitoring bridges department." (AP Photo via militant website) (The Associated Press)

This undated image posted on a militant website on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows an Islamic State group policeman in a police vehicle in Nineveh province, Iraq. Arabic on the vehicle reads, "Islamic State police." (AP Photo via militant website) (The Associated Press)

This undated image posted on a militant website on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows an Islamic State group policeman standing guard next to a police vehicle in Nineveh province, Iraq. Arabic on the vehicle reads, "Islamic State police." (AP Photo via militant website) (The Associated Press)

Iraqi authorities say a car bomb blast near a Shiite mosque has killed eight people in Baghdad.

Police officials say the attack took place Friday morning when the car exploded near al-Mubarak mosque in the mostly Shiite district of Karradah in downtown Baghdad.

Police said that eight people were killed and 18 others were wounded in the attack.

Medical officials confirmed the causalities. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Attacks against Shiite civilians and mosques are common tactics used by Islamic state militants who considers Shiites heretics. The extremist group has captured large chunks of territory in western and northern Iraq.