Three bombs targeting Shia pilgrims in
Baghdad have killed at least 29 people and
wounded dozens more, Iraqi security and
medical officials said.
Thursday's attacks struck Mansur in west
Baghdad, Baab al-Sharji in the centre of the
city, and the neighbourhood of Shaab, as
worshippers prepared to commemorate the
death of a revered figure in Shia Islam, Imam
Mousa al-Kadhim.
Shia pilgrims are often targeted by Sunni
fighters who regard them as apostates, and in
past years, multiple attacks have been carried
out during the Imam Kadhim
commemorations.
Due to the heightened threat of attack, the
authorities had imposed heavy security
measures involving the closure of entire roads
in the capital.
The three bombings happened in the space of
30 minutes. The deadliest was in Baab al-
Sharji, where a minibus approached a crowd of
pilgrims and exploded, killing 14 people and
wounding 17 others, according to police and
medical sources.
"The suicide bomber… came speeding out from
a side street towards a group of pilgrims on
foot," said Police Captain Ahmed Nasir. "Many
bodies were ripped to pieces."
A blast targeting Shias also went off in the
town of Mishashda near Baghdad.
At least 10 more people died elsewhere in Iraq
on Thursday as gunmen and bombers attacked
mostly police and military, Reuters news
agency reported.
In the worst attack, gunmen broke into a
house in the northern city of Mosul and killed
a policeman, his brother and a cousin, a police
officer said.
Also in Mosul, gunmen shot dead a female Shia
ethnic Turkmen election candidate who had
failed to get into parliament after last month's
polls, police said.
