'Women' bombers kill 28 Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
BAGHDAD, July 28 (AFP): Three suicide bombers, believed to be women, killed 28 Shiite pilgrims Monday as they headed to a holy shrine in Baghdad for a major religious ceremony that has been marred by bloodshed in the past. Among the dead were women and children, security and hospital officials told AFP, adding that about 70 other people were wounded in the attacks.
The bombers struck in the Karrada district of central Baghdad as the pilgrims were making their way on foot towards Kadhimiyah in the north of the Iraqi capital, site of Tuesday's Shiite festival.
"At least 25 people were killed and more than 70 were wounded in three suicide attacks, probably by females suicide bombers," a police official said.
A doctor at Ibn al-Nafess hospital, one of several dealing with casualties from the bombings, said he had received the bodies of 20 dead and 74 injured.
On Sunday, gunmen shot dead seven pilgrims in Madin, a town south of Baghdad, despite tight security for Tuesday's ceremony honouring imam Mussa Kadhim that is expected to attract up to one million worshippers.
Pilgrims from around the country are flocking to the Iraqi capital to mourn the revered imam who died 12 centuries ago, prompting authorities to step up security amid concerns over attacks.
Systematic violence -- suicide bombings and sectarian killings -- have dropped sharply in the capital since a peak in 2006, but Iraqi police are worried about attacks in the city of six million people.
Checks have been particularly stringent amid what appears to be growing trend of using women in insurgent bombings, which have claimed hundreds of lives across the volatile country.
Also on Monday, at least three men and a woman were killed in a roadside bombing near Baquba, north of Baghdad, police said.
Last week, eight people were killed when a female suicide bomber blew herself up as a Sahwa (Awakening) patrol passed by in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province which remains one of the most dangerous places in the country.
Awakening groups began in the western province of Anbar when Sunni tribal leaders turned on their former Al-Qaeda allies in 2006, and since then similar bodies have sprung up across Iraq, supported and paid for by the US military.
The bombers struck in the Karrada district of central Baghdad as the pilgrims were making their way on foot towards Kadhimiyah in the north of the Iraqi capital, site of Tuesday's Shiite festival.
"At least 25 people were killed and more than 70 were wounded in three suicide attacks, probably by females suicide bombers," a police official said.
A doctor at Ibn al-Nafess hospital, one of several dealing with casualties from the bombings, said he had received the bodies of 20 dead and 74 injured.
On Sunday, gunmen shot dead seven pilgrims in Madin, a town south of Baghdad, despite tight security for Tuesday's ceremony honouring imam Mussa Kadhim that is expected to attract up to one million worshippers.
Pilgrims from around the country are flocking to the Iraqi capital to mourn the revered imam who died 12 centuries ago, prompting authorities to step up security amid concerns over attacks.
Systematic violence -- suicide bombings and sectarian killings -- have dropped sharply in the capital since a peak in 2006, but Iraqi police are worried about attacks in the city of six million people.
Checks have been particularly stringent amid what appears to be growing trend of using women in insurgent bombings, which have claimed hundreds of lives across the volatile country.
Also on Monday, at least three men and a woman were killed in a roadside bombing near Baquba, north of Baghdad, police said.
Last week, eight people were killed when a female suicide bomber blew herself up as a Sahwa (Awakening) patrol passed by in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province which remains one of the most dangerous places in the country.
Awakening groups began in the western province of Anbar when Sunni tribal leaders turned on their former Al-Qaeda allies in 2006, and since then similar bodies have sprung up across Iraq, supported and paid for by the US military.