Roadside bomb kills four at Shiite festival in Iraq

Baghdad: A roadside bomb blast targeting Iraqis on a pilgrimage to a Shiite festival killed four people and wounded 15 on Monday, police said.

Police said the roadside bomb exploded on the outskirts of Baghdad as the pilgrims walked to the annual Arbain festival, one of Shiite Islam's holiest events, in the southern city of Kabala.

In eastern Baghdad , another roadside bombing wounded three pilgrims. A second bomb that went off a few minutes later about 70 yards away wounded a traffic policeman riding to the scene on his motorcycle.

Meanwhile, the death toll rose from 40 to 56 from a suicide bombing on Sunday - one of the deadliest attacks this year.

Extremists had attacked another group of pilgrims with guns and grenades hours earlier in the predominantly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, killing three and wounding 49, the Iraqi military said. The extremists fired from a mosque at the pilgrims and a counterattack by security forces killed five of them, while two were captured.

US and Iraqi forces have increased the number of checkpoints and imposed car bans and other measures in major Shiite cities to protect the worshippers traveling to Karbala.