Region | Iraq
Suicide bomber kills 40 in Iraq: police
A suicide bomber targeted a group of pilgrims heading to one of Shiite Islam's holiest festivals killing 25 people and wounding 45 others south of Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi police said.
- Agencies
- Published: 17:37 February 24, 2008
- Iraqi army passes Shiite pilgrims leaving Baghdad on their way to Karbala, Iraq, on Sunday.
- Image Credit: AP
Karbala, Iraq: A suicide bomber targeted a group of pilgrims heading to one of Shiite Islam's holiest festivals killing 40 people, including women and children, south of Baghdad on Sunday, Iraqi police said.
The bomber struck in the town of Iskandariya hours after militants killed three pilgrims and wounded 36 others in an attack in Baghdad, police said.
Police and the US military said the bomber struck in the
town of Iskandariya, 40 km south of Baghdad, hours
after militants killed three pilgrims and wounded 36 others in
an attack in southern Baghdad, police said.
Police said 40 people were killed and 46 wounded, despite a
tightening of security. The US military had said
hospital officials were reporting 25 dead and 50 wounded.
The military said in a statement that the attack took place
on a two-lane highway near a residential area where about 42,000pilgrims had passed through earlier in the day.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers and police have been
deployed for the Arbain festival after suspected Sunni Arab
insurgents killed 149 pilgrims on their way to Karbala for the
event last year.
The pilgrims are particularly vulnerable to attack because
many prefer to walk to Karbala, 110 km south of
Baghdad.
In the Baghdad attack, the pilgrims were hit by a roadside
bomb and then fired on by gunmen on a road used by thousands of pilgrims, police said.
The US military gave a different account, saying gunmen
had lobbed hand grenades at the pilgrims in Baghdad, killing one and wounding 17.
It said US and Iraqi forces would increase patrols and
checkpoints, restricting vehicle access through key routes to
Karbala from southern Baghdad.
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